Shloka 21

Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative

Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

धुन्धुमार उवाच अकृतज्ञस्तु मित्राणां शूद्रायां च प्रजायतु । एक: सम्पन्नमश्चातु यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्‌

Transliteration

dhundhumāra uvāca | akṛtajñas tu mitrāṇāṁ śūdrāyāṁ ca prajāyatu | ekaḥ sampannam aśnātu yaḥ te harati puṣkaram ||

Translation

دھندھومار نے کہا—جس نے تمہارا کنول چرایا ہے وہ اپنے دوستوں کے احسان کا منکر، ناشکرا ہو؛ شودر طبقے کی عورت سے اولاد پیدا کرے؛ اور خوشحال ہو کر بھی اکیلا ہی لذیذ کھانا کھائے۔

Word by Word

• {'dhundhumāra uvāca': 'Dhundhumāra said', 'akṛtajñaḥ': 'ungrateful

• one who does not acknowledge benefits received', 'tu': 'but/indeed (emphatic particle)', 'mitrāṇām': 'of friends', 'śūdrāyām': 'in/through a Śūdra woman (locative

• indicating the mother)', 'ca': 'and', 'prajāyatu': 'let him beget offspring

• may he produce children', 'ekaḥ': 'alone

• solitary', 'sampannaḥ': 'prosperous

• well-provided', 'aśnātu': 'let him eat

• may he consume', 'yaḥ': 'who

• the one who', 'te': 'your (genitive/dative sense in context)', 'harati': 'steals

• takes away', 'puṣkaram': 'lotus (also ‘Puṣkara’ can mean a lotus/lotus-pond

Speaker

धुन्धुमार उवाच

Characters & Entities

• धुन्धुमार (Dhundhumāra)
• मित्र (friends)
• पुष्कर (lotus)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames theft and betrayal as moral failures that lead to painful consequences: ingratitude toward benefactors, socially censured conduct, and lonely self-indulgence even amid prosperity—suggesting that adharma isolates and degrades a person.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhundhumāra pronounces a curse upon the person who stole “your lotus,” specifying misfortunes and moral degradations as the thief’s karmic recompense.