Shloka 38
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
तृष्णाक्षयञ्च रक्तेन तथा शीघ्नं विधीयताम् ।
ततो वयं प्रव्यथिताः प्रकम्पोद्भूतसाध्वसाः ।
कष्टं कष्टमिति प्रोच्य नैतत् कुर्मेति चाब्रुवन् ॥
tṛṣṇākṣayañ ca raktena tathā śīghnaṃ vidhīyatām /
tato vayaṃ pravyathitāḥ prakampodbhūtasādhvasāḥ /
kaṣṭaṃ kaṣṭam iti procya naitat kurm iti cābruvan
「『渇きもまた、血によって速やかに鎮めよ』。」それを聞くや、我らは深く動揺し—恐怖が痙攣のごとく湧き起こり、震えた。「ああ、ああ！」と叫んで彼らは言った。「我らはこれを行わぬ。」
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FAQs
The verse dramatizes a moral boundary: when a proposal crosses into clear adharmic territory (here, the shocking suggestion of quenching thirst with blood), the proper response is refusal. The bodily signs—trembling and panic—function as an inner ethical alarm (antar-bhāva) indicating conscience and dharmic recoil.
This verse is not primarily sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita material. It belongs to narrative-ethical instruction within the Purana’s frame-story (ākhyāna used for dharma-bodha), i.e., ancillary didactic content rather than one of the five lakṣaṇas.
Symbolically, ‘thirst’ (tṛṣṇā) can indicate craving. The suggestion to end it ‘with blood’ depicts a tamasic shortcut—feeding desire through harm. The refusal signifies the yogic/dharmic principle that craving is not extinguished by violent indulgence, but by restraint, discernment, and right means.