Shloka 23
Go-apahāra (Cattle Theft), Go-dāna (Cow-Gift), and Suvarṇa-dakṣiṇā (Gold Fee): Karmic Consequence and Purificatory Merit
रक्षितास्मीति चोक्तं ते प्रतिज्ञा चानृता तव । ब्राह्मणस्वस्य चादानं द्विविधस्ते व्यतिक्रम:
rakṣitāsmīti coktaṃ te pratijñā cānṛtā tava | brāhmaṇasvasya cādānaṃ dvividhās te vyatikramaḥ ||
“Sinabi mo, ‘Ako ang inyong tagapagtanggol’; ngunit napatunayang hungkag ang iyong panata, sapagkat nawala ang baka ng brahmana. At bukod pa roon, ikaw ay nakakuha—kahit sa pagkakamali—ng pag-aari ng isang brahmana. Kaya dalawang paglabag ang nagawa mo: ang pagkabigo sa ipinangakong pag-iingat, at ang maling pagkuha sa ari-arian ng brahmana.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma is measured by protection and integrity: proclaiming oneself a protector creates a binding obligation, and failure to safeguard the vulnerable makes the pledge ‘false’ in effect. Additionally, Brahmin property is treated as especially inviolable; even inadvertent taking is a serious breach. The verse frames wrongdoing as twofold—broken protective duty and wrongful appropriation.
A Brahmin addresses a ruler/authority figure, accusing him of two offenses: his public assurance of protection has been undermined because a Brahmin’s cow was lost, and he has also taken the Brahmin’s wealth (even if by mistake). The speech functions as a moral indictment, pressing accountability under dharma.