Shloka 62
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
अत्रिर्वाच नैतस्येह यथास्माकं क्षुधा वीर्य समाहतम् । कृच्छाधीतं प्रणष्टं च तेन पीवाउछुना सह
atrir uvāca—naitasyeha yathāsmākaṁ kṣudhā vīryaṁ samāhatam | kṛcchrādhītaṁ praṇaṣṭaṁ ca tena pīvāu chūnā saha ||
Atri disse: “No caso dele aqui, não é como conosco: a fome não esmagou nem destruiu sua força. Nem se perdeu, como em nós, o saber védico adquirido com grande penúria. Por isso ele engordou, mesmo na companhia daquele cão.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Atri contrasts the effects of hunger on spiritual discipline: severe hunger can break bodily vigor and even cause hard-won Vedic learning to fade; the verse implies that true steadiness in dharma requires sustaining both body and study so that austerity does not become self-defeating.
In a discussion attributed to Vasiṣṭha’s narration, Atri comments on someone who, unlike the speakers, has not been weakened by hunger nor lost his Vedic learning; as a result, he appears well-fed—described pointedly as being ‘fat even with a dog,’ emphasizing the contrast with their own deprivation.