Shloka 25
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
अयज्ञीयद्रुमे देशे रुकुसिंहनिषेविते | भविता त्वं मृग: क्रूरो महादुः:खसमन्वित:
ayajñīyadrume deśe rukusiṃhaniṣevite | bhavitā tvaṃ mṛgaḥ krūro mahāduḥkhasamanvitaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “Sa isang lupain na punô ng mga punong hindi nararapat sa mga ritwal ng yajña, na dinadalaw lamang ng mga ruru at mga leon, ikaw ay magiging isang mabangis at malupit na hayop sa gubat, pasan ang matinding pagdurusa.” Ipinahihiwatig nito ang bunga ng paglabag sa banal na kaayusan at wastong asal: itinatapon ang nagkasala sa isang mababang, nakakatakot na pag-iral, hiwalay sa sumusuportang daigdig ng yajña at ng pamayanan.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic retribution framed through dharma: wrongdoing leads to loss of human dignity and exclusion from the yajña-centered moral world, symbolized by being forced into a harsh wilderness among predators and fear.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a pronouncement (a curse-like consequence): the addressed person is foretold to become a cruel wild animal and live in a forest-region considered unfit for sacrificial activity, inhabited only by ruru-deer and lions, enduring great suffering.