Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
विरूप उवाच धारयामि नरव्याप्र विकृतस्येह गो: फलम् । ददतश्न न गृह्नाति विकृतो मे महीपते
virūpa uvāca | dhārayāmi naravyāghra vikṛtasyeha goḥ phalam | dadataś ca na gṛhṇāti vikṛto me mahīpate ||
毗卢波说道:“噫,人中之虎!我在此保留着维克利塔施牛之果报(功德),以作债务。噫,大地之主!今日我欲偿还此债,然而维克利塔却不肯从我手中受取。”
विरूप उवाच
The verse highlights dharma around obligation and moral accounting: one should repay what one holds as another’s due (even intangible ‘phala’/merit), and acceptance/refusal itself can carry ethical significance in disputes about rightful ownership of merit.
Virūpa tells the king that he has been holding the ‘fruit’ (merit) of Vikṛta’s cow-gift as a kind of debt. Now he is offering to return it, but Vikṛta refuses to accept the repayment, indicating a moral or legal complication being brought before royal judgment.