Shloka 28
Adhyaya 78 — Hymn to Surya and the Distribution of Solar Splendour; Genealogy of Vaivasvata and Chaya’s Line
कृमयो मांसमादाय पादतोऽस्य महीतले ।
पतिष्यन्तीति शापान्तं तस्य चक्रे पिता स्वयम् ॥
kṛmayo māṃsam ādāya pādato 'sya mahītale / patiṣyantīti śāpāntaṃ tasya cakre pitā svayam
“कृमयः पादमांसं हृत्वा भूमौ पतिष्यन्ति”—इति पितैव तस्य शापस्य मर्यादां निश्चकार।
FAQs
Even when consequences are incurred, restraint and compassion can delimit suffering; authority is ideally paired with mercy (daṇḍa with anugraha).
Vaṃśānucarita: an etiological detail explaining later attributes or conditions attached to a lineage figure through a curse narrative.
Feet symbolize movement in saṃsāra and ethical ‘path’; the ‘flesh taken from the feet’ suggests the stripping of attachment that forces a being toward dharma-vision.