Shloka 19
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
अमृतं मंगलं विद्धि महद्विषममंगलम् । ओपषघध्यो ह्ामृतं सर्वा विषं तेजोडग्निसम्भवम्
amṛtaṁ maṅgalaṁ viddhi mahad viṣamam aṅgalam | oṣadhyo hy amṛtaṁ sarvā viṣaṁ tejo 'gnisambhavam ||
シュクラは言った。「甘露は吉祥であると知れ。毒は大いに、しかも激しく不吉であると知れ。あらゆる薬草は『甘露』と見なされるべきだ――命を支え、益をもたらすゆえに。だが毒は、火より生まれた燃えさかる威力である。ゆえに、生を保ち癒やすものは吉祥と呼ばれ、焼き、害し、滅ぼすものは深く不吉と呼ばれる。」
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches moral discernment through a vivid contrast: what preserves life and brings welfare (amṛta, and by extension healing herbs) is auspicious, while what destroys and burns (poison, described as fire-born potency) is profoundly inauspicious.
Śukra is delivering a didactic instruction, defining and contrasting ‘auspicious’ and ‘inauspicious’ by using the well-known opposition of nectar versus poison, and extending the idea to medicines as life-giving ‘nectar’ and poison as destructive, fiery energy.