Mahabharata 3.201.57 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 57

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

पानीयस्य गुणा दिव्या: प्रेतलोकसुखावहा:

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: pānīyasya guṇā divyāḥ pretalokasukhāvahāḥ; jaladāna-karaṇe kā prabhāvaḥ atyantaṃ alaukikaḥ, sa paraloke sukhaṃ prāpayati. ye jaladānaṃ kurvanti teṣāṃ puṇyātmanāṃ mārge puṣpodakā nāma nadī prāpyate; te tasyāḥ śītalaṃ amṛtasamaṃ madhuraṃ jalaṃ pibanti.

Translation

قال فايشَمبايانا: «إن فضائل تقديم ماء الشرب إلهية، تجلب السعادة في عالم الراحلين. وإن أثر صدقة الماء لعجيب حقًّا؛ فهي تمنح الراحة في الدار الآخرة. وللنفوس الصالحة التي قدّمت الماء تُنال في طريقها نهرٌ يُدعى بُشْبودَكا (Puṣpodakā)؛ فيشربون من مائه البارد العذب، حلوًا كالرحيق.»

Word by Word

• पानीयस्य: of water / of drinking-water
• पानीयस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: पानीय
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• गुणाः: qualities, merits
• गुणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दिव्याः: divine, wondrous
• दिव्याः: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रेतलोकसुखावहाः: bringing happiness in the world of the departed (afterlife)
• प्रेतलोकसुखावहाः: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रेतलोक-सुख-आवह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Preta-loka (realm of the departed)
• Para-loka (afterlife)
• Puṣpodakā river
• Jala-dāna (gift of water)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Giving drinking water (jala-dāna) is presented as a highly meritorious act: it is compassionate in this world and yields comfort and auspicious support in the afterlife, symbolized by access to a refreshing, nectar-like river on the soul’s journey.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes the spiritual efficacy of water-charity, explaining that those who donate water gain post-mortem benefit: on their path they reach the river Puṣpodakā and drink its cool, sweet, nectar-like water.