Shloka 14
तापती–संवरणोपाख्यानम्
The Tapatī–Saṃvaraṇa Episode: Meaning of “Tāpatya”
सो<5यमस्माननुप्राप्तो वार: कुलविनाशन: । भोजन पुरुषश्वैक: प्रदेयं वेतन॑ मया,वही आज हमारी बारी आयी है, जो समूचे कुलका विनाश करनेवाली है। मुझे उस राक्षसको करके रूपमें नियत भोजन और एक पुरुषकी बलि देनी पड़ेगी
so 'yam asmān anuprāpto vāraḥ kulavināśanaḥ | bhojanaṃ puruṣaś caikaḥ pradeyaṃ vetanaṃ mayā ||
บัดนี้ถึงคราวของพวกเราแล้ว—คราวอันน่าสะพรึงที่ทำลายทั้งวงศ์ตระกูล. ข้าพเจ้าจำต้องมอบบรรณาการที่กำหนดไว้แก่ยักษ์กินคนตนนั้น คืออาหารตามกำหนด และการสังเวยชายหนึ่งคน.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic crisis under tyranny: when a community is coerced into an unjust ‘due’ (vetana) that demands both provisions and a human life, the burden falls on households in turn. It foregrounds the ethical tension between protecting one’s family and submitting to adharma imposed by fear.
A brāhmaṇa explains that the fatal rotation has reached his household: according to the local arrangement under a rākṣasa’s oppression, each family must, on its turn, send a set amount of food and one man as the victim. He laments that this ‘turn’ is effectively the destruction of the family line.