Shloka 57
Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)
शृगालादथमं श्वानं प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण: । तस्याप्यधम उद्देश: शरीरस्य श्वजाघनी
śṛgālād athamaṁ śvānaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ | tasyāpy adhama uddeśaḥ śarīrasya śvajāghanī ||
మేధావులు అంటారు—కుక్క నక్కకన్నా అధమం; దాని శరీరంలోనూ శ్వజాఘనీ (తొడ భాగం) అత్యంత అధమమని చెప్పబడింది.
घपच उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a graded comparison (jackal → dog → a specific bodily part) as a rhetorical device to emphasize degrees of baseness and to frame a moral warning: dharma-discourse may employ stark imagery to underline what is considered most degraded or blameworthy.
A speaker addresses a Brahmarṣi and continues a didactic discussion on dharma, citing what “the wise” say. The statement functions as an illustrative example within a larger ethical instruction rather than as zoological description.