Shloka 64
युधिछिर उवाच सार्थ: प्रवसतो मित्र भार्या मित्र गृहे सतः । आतुरस्य भिषड्मित्र दानं मित्र मरिष्यत:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sārthaḥ pravasato mitraṁ bhāryā mitraṁ gṛhe sataḥ | āturasya bhiṣag mitraṁ dānaṁ mitraṁ mariṣyataḥ ||
قال يودهِشْثيرا: إنّ من يسافر بعيدًا يكون أصدقاؤه القافلة ورفاق الطريق؛ ومن يقيم في بيته تكون الزوجة صديقته؛ وللمريض يكون الطبيب صديقه؛ أمّا من دنا أجله فالصديق الحقّ هو الصدقة—العطية ذات الثواب التي تسنده فيما وراء هذه الحياة.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Friendship is defined by practical support suited to one’s condition: companionship for the traveler, partnership for the householder, healing for the sick, and—at life’s end—merit through charity. The verse frames ‘mitra’ as that which sustains a person in their immediate need and in their ultimate transition.
In the Vana Parva’s didactic context, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a moral observation about who (or what) truly serves as a ‘friend’ in different life-situations, emphasizing social interdependence and the special salvific value of dāna when death approaches.