Shloka 30
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
मृतचैलपरिस्तीर्ण निर्माल्यकृत भूषणम् । सर्पनिर्मोकमालाभि: कृतचिह्लकुटीमठम्,मुर्दोके ऊपरसे उतारे गये कपड़े चारों ओर फैलाये गये थे और वहींसे उतारे हुए फ़ूलकी मालाओंसे उन चाण्डालोंके घर सजे हुए थे। चाण्डालोंकी कुटियों और मठोंको सर्पकी केंचुलोंकी मालाओंसे विभूषित एवं चिह्नित किया गया था
mṛtacailaparistīrṇaṃ nirmālyakṛta-bhūṣaṇam | sarpanirmokamālābhiḥ kṛtacihna-kuṭīmaṭham ||
Bhishma berkata: “Kain yang ditanggalkan daripada mayat dihamparkan di sekeliling, dan perhiasan dibuat daripada kalungan bunga yang dibuang. Pondok-pondok dan pertapaan kecil kaum Chandala itu ditandai serta dihias dengan untaian daripada kulit ular yang tertanggal.”
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.