Shloka 30
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
मृतचैलपरिस्तीर्ण निर्माल्यकृत भूषणम् । सर्पनिर्मोकमालाभि: कृतचिह्लकुटीमठम्
mṛtacailaparistīrṇaṃ nirmālyakṛta-bhūṣaṇam | sarpanirmokamālābhiḥ kṛtacihna-kuṭīmaṭham ||
ភីෂ្មៈបានមានព្រះបន្ទូលថា៖ «សម្លៀកបំពាក់ដែលដកចេញពីសព ត្រូវបានពង្រាយពាសពេញ; ហើយគ្រឿងអលង្ការត្រូវបានធ្វើពីកម្រងផ្កាដែលគេបោះចោល។ កុដិ និងមណ្ឌលតូចៗរបស់ពួកចណ្ឌាល ត្រូវបានសម្គាល់ និងតុបតែងដោយកម្រងដែលធ្វើពីស្បែកពស់ដែលបានស្រកចោល»។
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses stark imagery—dead-cloths, discarded garlands, and snake-slough garlands—to show how social and moral disorder can normalize what is ordinarily rejected. It functions as an ethical critique: when dharma declines, signs of impurity and exclusion become public ‘ornaments,’ revealing a society that has inverted values and lost proper discernment.
Bhīṣma is describing a scene where dwellings are decorated not with auspicious items but with objects associated with death, refuse, and pollution: cloths taken from corpses are spread about, ornaments are made from used garlands, and huts/maṭhas are marked with garlands of shed snake-skins.