Shloka 131
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
पशुसख उवाच दास एव प्रजायेतामप्रसूतिरकिंचन: । दैवतेष्वनमस्कारो बिसस्तैन्यं करोति यः
paśusakha uvāca dāsa eva prajāyetām aprasūtir akiñcanaḥ | daivateṣv ananamaskāro bisastainyaṃ karoti yaḥ ||
पशुसख उवाच—यो मृणालस्य (बिसस्य) स्तैन्यं करोति, स परजन्मनि दासीगृहे एव जायते, अपुत्रोऽकिञ्चनश्च भवति, दैवतेषु च नमस्कारं न करोति—एतत् तस्य पापफलम्।
पशुसख उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even seemingly minor theft (here, lotus-fibres) is treated as a serious breach of dharma, bringing karmic consequences such as low birth, poverty, and childlessness; additionally, neglecting reverence to the deities is framed as a separate moral fault.
In a didactic context within the Anuśāsana Parva, the speaker Paśusakha states a rule of karmic retribution: the act of stealing lotus-fibres leads to adverse rebirth and life conditions, and the offender is also marked by the sin of not offering salutations to the gods.