Shloka 125
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
अशुचिर्त्रद्यकूटो5स्तु ऋद्धया चैवाप्यहंकृत: । कर्षको मत्सरी चास्तु बिसस्तैन्यं करोति य:
aśucir trayakūṭo 'stu ṛddhyā caivāpy ahaṅkṛtaḥ | karṣako matsarī cāstu bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||
Viśvāmitra berkata: “Biarlah orang yang mencuri serabut teratai (bisa) menjadi najis; biarlah dia menjadi penafi Veda; biarlah dia membusung oleh kesombongan harta; biarlah dia, walaupun seorang Brahmin, mengambil kerja membajak sebagai petani; dan biarlah dia menjadi dengki. Demikianlah noda moral yang melekat pada pencuri serabut teratai.”
विश्वामित्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even seemingly minor theft (here, lotus-fibre) is treated as a serious breach of dharma, bringing moral and social degradation—impurity, envy, arrogance, and a fall from proper conduct and reverence for Vedic authority.
In a didactic passage of Anuśāsana Parva, Viśvāmitra pronounces the kinds of दोष/पाप (faults and sins) that are said to accrue to a person who steals lotus-fibres, listing the resulting moral taints and degraded dispositions.