Shloka 39
Chatra–Upānah Dāna: Origin Narrative
Jamadagni–Reṇukā–Sūrya Saṃvāda
वालखिल्या ऊचु: एकपादेन वृत्त्यर्थ ग्रामद्वारे स तिष्ठतु धर्मज्ञस्त्यक्तधर्मास्तु यस्ते हरति पुष्करम्
vālakhilyā ūcuḥ | ekapādena vṛtty-arthaṃ grāma-dvāre sa tiṣṭhatu dharmajñas tyakta-dharmāstu yas te harati puṣkaram |
والکھلیہ رشیوں نے کہا—جس نے تمہارا کنول لے لیا ہے، وہ روزی کے لیے گاؤں کے دروازے پر ایک پاؤں پر کھڑا رہے؛ اور دھرم کو جانتے ہوئے بھی دھرم کو ترک کرنے والا بنے۔
गालव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Knowing dharma yet violating it is treated as a grave ethical failure; the verse frames punishment as both bodily austerity (standing on one foot) and public disgrace (at the village gate), emphasizing accountability for theft and hypocrisy.
The Vālakhilya sages pronounce a punitive injunction/curse: the person who has taken the addressed party’s lotus should be forced into a humiliating, ascetic posture at the village entrance as a means of subsistence, marking him as one who has forsaken dharma despite understanding it.