Shloka 27
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
इत्युक्त्वा पुनरप्येनमपृच्छत् स द्विजोत्तमः ।
आहारः कस्तवार्थाय उपकल्प्यो भवेन्मया ।
स चाऽह नरमांसॆन तृप्तिर्भवति मे परा ॥
ity uktvā punar apy enam apṛcchat sa dvijottamaḥ |
āhāraḥ kas tavārthāya upakalpyo bhaven mayā |
sa cāha nara-māṃsena tṛptir bhavati me parā ||
అని చెప్పి, ఆ ఉత్తమ బ్రాహ్మణుడు మళ్లీ అతనిని అడిగాడు—“నీ కోసం ఏ ఆహారం సిద్ధం చేయాలి?” అతడు అన్నాడు—“మానవ మాంసంతోనే నా తృప్తి పరమంగా ఉంటుంది.”
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FAQs
The verse frames a moral boundary: hospitality (ātithi-satkara) is virtuous, but it is not meant to override dharma. A request for naramāṃsa (human flesh) signals a descent into adharma and functions as a narrative device to test discernment—true righteousness is not blind compliance, but alignment with śāstric and humane limits.
This verse is not directly sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita; it belongs primarily to vaṃśānucarita-style narrative/episode material (ākhyāna) used to illustrate dharma through story rather than cosmological enumeration.
Symbolically, “human flesh” can represent consuming the ‘human’ (mānuṣa) qualities—compassion, restraint, and social order—i.e., an appetite that destroys the very fabric of dharma. The brahmin’s repeated questioning underscores viveka (discriminative inquiry) before action: the seeker must examine the nature of a demand, not merely the authority or urgency behind it.