Shloka 51
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
क्षुधित: कलुषं यातो नास्ति हीरशनार्थिन: । क्षुच्च मां दूषयत्यत्र हरिष्यामि श्वजाघनीम्,“भूखके मारे यह पापकर्म करनेपर उतर आया हूँ। भोजनकी इच्छावाले भूखे मनुष्यको कुछ भी करनेमें लज्जा नहीं आती। भूख ही मुझे कलंकित कर रही है, अतः मैं यह कुत्तेकी जाँघ ले जाऊँगा
kṣudhitaḥ kaluṣaṃ yāto nāsti hrīraśanārthinaḥ | kṣuc ca māṃ dūṣayaty atra hariṣyāmi śvajāghanīm ||
飢えに屈し、彼は自らが穢れた道に踏み入ったことを認める。食を求める飢えた者には、恥は行いを止め得ない。「ここで私を汚しているのは飢えそのものだ。ゆえにこの犬の腿を持ち去る。」
घपच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme hunger can erode shame and push a person toward morally impure actions, yet it also preserves ethical awareness by naming the act as 'kaluṣa' (tainted) and recognizing hunger as the force driving the fall.
A speaker, driven by hunger, justifies an intended act of taking a dog’s thigh for food, stating that a starving person loses the restraint of shame and that hunger is what is bringing him disgrace in this moment.