Shloka 8
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
जघ्नुस्ता: पयसा पुत्रांस्तथा पौत्रान् विधुन्वती: । पशूनवेक्षमाणाश्च साधुवृत्तेन दम्पती
jaghnustāḥ payasā putrāṁs tathā pautrān vidhunvatīḥ | paśūn avekṣamāṇāś ca sādhuvṛttena dampatī ||
牛たちは苦悶に震え、ほかの家畜を見回しつつ、正当な主人と子牛の姿が見えぬと、痛みに身を震わせた。そして自らの乳によって、盗みによって生を立てたその夫婦を――その子らと孫らに至るまで――滅ぼした。この挿話は、不義の生業がもたらす害は必ず悪人に返り、ふだん命を養うものさえ、ダルマが踏みにじられるとき報復の器となりうることを示す。
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
A livelihood rooted in adharma—such as theft and exploitation—invites inevitable ruin. The verse frames moral causality: violating rightful ownership and harming dependents (cows and calves) turns even nourishing milk into a means of punishment, emphasizing dharma’s protective and corrective force.
The cows, distressed because they cannot find their owner and calves and are searching among other cattle, tremble in pain. In that state, they bring about the destruction of the abducting/stealing couple and also their sons and grandsons—said to occur through the agency of the cows’ milk.