Shloka 20
ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property
Brahmasva
इमामवस्थां सम्प्राप्त: पश्य कालस्य पर्ययम् | तात! प्रभो! मैं भी दूसरे जन्ममें धनसम्पन्न महान् कुलमें उत्पन्न हुआ था। ज्ञान- विज्ञानमें पारंगत था। इन सब दोषोंको जानता था तो भी अभिमानवश सदा सब प्राणियोंपर क्रोध करता और पशुओंके पृष्ठका मांस खाता था; उसी दुराचार और अभक्ष्य- भक्षणसे मैं इस दुरवस्थाको प्राप्त हुआ हूँ। कालके इस उलट-फेरको देखिये ।। आदीप्तमिव चैलान्तं भ्रमरैरिव चार्दितम्
imām avasthāṁ samprāptaḥ paśya kālasya paryayam | tāta! prabho! mayāpi dvitīye janmani dhana-sampanne mahān kule utpanno 'bhavam | jñāna-vijñāne pārāṅgata āsam | etān sarvān doṣān jānann api to 'bhimāna-vaśāt sadā sarva-prāṇiṣu krodhaṁ karomi sma, paśūnāṁ pṛṣṭha-māṁsaṁ ca khādāmi sma | tenaiva durācāreṇa abhakṣya-bhakṣaṇena ca aham etāṁ duravasthāṁ prāptaḥ | paśyata kālasya etam ulṭa-pheraṁ || ādīptam iva cailāntaṁ bhramarair iva cārditam
“ข้าตกมาสู่สภาพนี้แล้ว—จงดูความผันผวนกลับตาลปัตรที่กาลเวลานำมา”
चाण्डाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral knowledge without humility and self-restraint is ineffective: pride and anger lead to harmful actions, and harmful actions (especially cruelty and forbidden consumption) ripen into suffering through karma; Time’s reversals reveal the fragility of status and fortune.
A Caṇḍāla speaks autobiographically, explaining that he once had high birth and learning but, despite knowing right from wrong, acted violently and ate forbidden flesh; he now suffers a degraded condition and points to this as an example of Time’s overturning and karmic consequence.