Shloka 18
Honoring the Mother (Mātṛpūjanam): Consent, Equity, and Dana to Restore Household Dharma
को भक्षयेद्विषं घोरं कश्छिंद्यादात्मनः शिरः । कस्तरेत्सागरं बद्ध्वा ग्रीवायां दारुणां शिलाम् ॥ १८ ॥
ko bhakṣayedviṣaṃ ghoraṃ kaśchiṃdyādātmanaḥ śiraḥ | kastaretsāgaraṃ baddhvā grīvāyāṃ dāruṇāṃ śilām || 18 ||
Quem engoliria um veneno terrível? Quem cortaria a própria cabeça? Quem atravessaria o oceano com uma pedra cruel amarrada ao pescoço?
Narada (didactic statement in a teaching sequence; rhetorical admonition)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
The verse uses extreme, self-harming images to warn that certain choices are as ruinous as swallowing poison or drowning oneself—an exhortation to abandon spiritually destructive conduct and choose dharmic, liberating action.
By implying that willful spiritual negligence is self-destruction, it indirectly urges the safer course—taking refuge in dharma and devotion—rather than persisting in actions that sink the soul like a stone in the ocean.
No specific Vedanga (e.g., Vyākaraṇa, Jyotiṣa, Kalpa) is taught in this verse; it functions as a rhetorical nyāya (illustrative maxim) to sharpen ethical discernment (viveka) in practice.