लोभात्पापानि कुर्वाणः कामाद्वा यो न बुध्यते।
भ्रष्टः पश्यति तस्यान्तं ब्राह्मणी करकादिव॥
lobhāt pāpāni kurvāṇaḥ kāmād vā yo na budhyate
bhraṣṭaḥ paśyati tasyāntaṁ brāhmaṇī karakād iva
lobhāt = out of greed; pāpāni = sinful acts; kurvāṇaḥ = performs; kāmāt = hankering; vā = or; yaḥ = [he] who; na budhyate = does not understand; bhraṣṭaḥ = he falls from his opulent status; paśyati = and witnesses; tasya = his; antam = end; brāhmaṇī = a red-tailed brāhmaṇī lizard 1; karakāt = upon consuming hail 2; iva = like.
[He] who performs sinful acts out of greed or hankering does not understand. He falls from his opulent status and witnesses his end like a red-tailed brāhmaṇī lizard upon consuming hail.1
1 Brāhmaṇī here refers to a certain type of lizard.
1 In other words, hankering refers to the desire to acquire that which has not been acquired while greed refers to the desire to not give up that which has been acquired. The original Sanskrit words for hankering and greed are kāma and lobha respectively.
2 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yathā brāhmaṇī sva-mārakaṁ karma svayam eva karoti tathā tvam apīty arthaḥ.
3 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: pāpāni kurvāṇaḥ yaḥ bhraṣṭaḥ na budhyate mayedaṁ kṛtam iti saḥ tasya pāpasya sakāśāt antaṁ sva-nāśaṁ paśyati.
Greed refers to intolerance of giving up that which has been acquired. Hankering refers to the desire to acquire.1 “He does not understand” here means “He does not repent.” He witnesses his end, that is, he experiences the result [of his sin].
It is well known that a red-tailed brāhmaṇī lizard dies upon consuming hail. Similarly, Lord Rāma implied, Khara would also die [as a consequence of his sinful activities].2
He then anticipated that Khara might ask, “What sin did I commit?” and speaks the next verse.
GLOSS. He who [becomes deviant] by performing sinful acts does not understand that he has performed this [sinful act] and witnesses his end due to the reaction to that sin.3