Bhashya
शृणु—यथा सोम्य पुरुषं चौर्यकर्मणि संदिह्यमानं निग्र-हाय परीक्षणाय च उत अपि हस्तगृहीतं बद्धहस्तम् आन-यन्ति राजपुरुषाः ।किं कृतवानयमिति पृष्टाश्च आहुः—अपहार्षीद्धनमस्यायम् ।ते च आहुः— किमपकरणमात्रेणबन्धनमर्हति, अन्यथा दत्तेऽपि धने बन्धनप्रसङ्गात् ; इत्युक्ताःपुनराहुः— स्तेयमकार्षीत् चौर्येण धनमपहार्षीदिति ।तेष्वेवंवदत्सु इतरः अपह्नुते— नाहं तत्कर्तेति ।ते च आहुः— संदि-ह्यमानं स्तेयमकार्षीः त्वमस्य धनस्येति ।तस्मिंश्च अपह्नुवानेआहुः— परशुमस्मै तपतेति शोधयत्वात्मानमिति ।स यदितस्य स्तैन्यस्य कर्ता भवति बहिश्चापह्नुते, स एवंभूतः तत एवानृतमन्यथाभूतं सन्तमन्यथात्मानं कुरुते ।स तथा अनृताभिसंधोऽनृतेनात्मानमन्तर्धाय व्यवहितं कृत्वा परशुं तप्तं मोहात्प्रतिगृह्णाति, स दह्यते, अथ हन्यते राजपुरुषैः स्वकृतेनानृताभिसंधिदोषेण ॥
In plain words
Listen, my dear: imagine a man brought in by the king's officers, his hands bound, accused of theft. When the judges ask what he has done, the officers say, 'He stole this man's property.' The judges object, 'But simply carrying property is not enough to imprison him; otherwise, anyone receiving a gift would be arrested.' The officers clarify, 'No, he took it stealthily; he committed theft.' Even as they speak, the accused denies it, saying, 'I did not do it.' The officers insist, 'You are suspected of stealing this wealth.' When he continues to deny it, they command, 'Heat the axe for him; let him prove his innocence.' Now, if he is indeed the thief and yet denies it, he is making himself out to be something other than what he is. Clinging to falsehood, hiding behind a lie, he foolishly grasps the red-hot axe. He is burned, and then he is executed by the king's officers—destroyed by his own choice to align himself with untruth.
Close to the Sanskrit
Listen—just as, O gentle one, a man suspected of the act of theft, for restraint and for testing, even seized by the hand and with bound hands, the king's men bring. 'What has this one done?'—thus being asked, they say, 'He stole the wealth of this one.' And they say, 'Does he deserve binding by mere taking away? Otherwise, even when wealth is given, there would be the consequence of binding.' Thus spoken to, they say again, 'He committed theft; he stole the wealth by stealth.' While they are speaking thus, the other denies, 'I am not the doer of that.' And they say, 'Being suspected, you committed theft of this wealth.' And when he continues to deny, they say, 'Heat the axe for him, let him clear himself.' If he is the doer of that theft and denies outwardly, he, being thus, therefore makes himself otherwise than he actually is. He, thus clinging to untruth, having concealed himself by untruth and made himself veiled, grasps the heated axe out of delusion; he is burned, and then he is killed by the king's men because of his self-committed fault of clinging to untruth.