Shloka 57

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

शृगालादथमं श्वानं प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण: । तस्याप्यधम उद्देश: शरीरस्य श्वजाघनी,“ब्रह्मर्ष! मैं आपके लिये भी जो धर्मकी ही बात बता रहा हूँ, उसे सुनिये। मनीषी पुरुष कहते हैं कि कुत्ता सियारसे भी अधम होता है। कुत्तेके शरीरमें भी उसकी जाँघचका भाग सबसे अधम होता है

Transliteration

śṛgālād athamaṁ śvānaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ | tasyāpy adhama uddeśaḥ śarīrasya śvajāghanī ||

Translation

മനീഷികൾ പറയുന്നു—നായ ശൃഗാലത്തേക്കാൾ അധമം; അതിന്റെ ശരീരത്തിലുമെന്ത്, ശ്വജാഘനി (തുടഭാഗം) തന്നെയാണ് ഏറ്റവും അധമമെന്ന് പറയുന്നു.

Word by Word

शृगालात्from/than a jackal

अधमम्more base, inferior

श्वानम्a dog

प्रवदन्तिsay, declare

मनीषिणःthe wise (men)

तस्यof it/of him (of that dog)

अपिeven, also

अधमःmost base, lowest

उद्देशःpart/region, portion

शरीरस्यof the body

श्वजाघनीthe dog's thigh/haunch (thigh-region)

Speaker

घपच उवाच

Characters & Entities

śṛgāla (jackal)

śvan (dog)

brahmarṣi (addressed sage)

manīṣiṇaḥ (the wise)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a graded comparison (jackal → dog → a specific bodily part) as a rhetorical device to emphasize degrees of baseness and to frame a moral warning: dharma-discourse may employ stark imagery to underline what is considered most degraded or blameworthy.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker addresses a Brahmarṣi and continues a didactic discussion on dharma, citing what “the wise” say. The statement functions as an illustrative example within a larger ethical instruction rather than as zoological description.