Shloka 51
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
क्षुधित: कलुषं यातो नास्ति हीरशनार्थिन: । क्षुच्च मां दूषयत्यत्र हरिष्यामि श्वजाघनीम्
kṣudhitaḥ kaluṣaṃ yāto nāsti hrīraśanārthinaḥ | kṣuc ca māṃ dūṣayaty atra hariṣyāmi śvajāghanīm ||
Сломленный голодом, он признаёт, что ступил на путь осквернения: для голодного, ищущего пищи, стыд не служит преградой. «Сам голод пятнает меня здесь; потому я унесу это собачье бедро».
घपच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme hunger can erode shame and push a person toward morally impure actions, yet it also preserves ethical awareness by naming the act as 'kaluṣa' (tainted) and recognizing hunger as the force driving the fall.
A speaker, driven by hunger, justifies an intended act of taking a dog’s thigh for food, stating that a starving person loses the restraint of shame and that hunger is what is bringing him disgrace in this moment.