Shloka 26
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
स एवमुक्तः प्रोवाच तमिन्द्रं पक्षिरूपिणम् ।
प्राणसन्धारणार्थाय दास्ये भक्ष्यं तवेप्सितम् ॥
sa evamuktaḥ provāca tam indraṃ pakṣirūpiṇam |
prāṇasandhāraṇārthāya dāsye bhakṣyaṃ tavepsitam ||
एवं संबोधितः स तु पक्षिरूपधरेन्द्रं प्रति उवाच। प्राणधारणहेतोस्ते यदिष्टं तदहं दास्ये॥
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds prāṇa-dhāraṇa (sustaining life) as an immediate dharmic priority: when a being requests food for survival, the righteous response is generosity and protection of life. It also reflects atithi-dharma—meeting a guest’s need without hostility—even when the guest appears in an unusual guise.
This verse belongs to the Purāṇic narrative/ethical instruction layer rather than the cosmological lakṣaṇas. It aligns most closely with ‘vaṃśānucarita’ in the broad sense of exemplary conduct within stories (ācāra shown through characters), not with sarga/pratisarga/manvantara directly.
Indra in bird-form can be read symbolically as divinity testing human discernment and compassion beyond appearances. ‘Prāṇa’ here is not only biological survival but also a marker of dharma’s first duty: to uphold life and harmony; feeding the ‘bird’ evokes nourishing the wandering jīva (or the vital forces) rather than judging by external form.