Shloka 3

प्रतीप–गङ्गा संवादः तथा शंतनु–गङ्गा विवाहशर्तिः

Pratīpa and Gaṅgā; Śaṃtanu’s marriage condition

Devanagari script

धर्मागतं प्राप्प धनं यजेत दद्यात्‌ सदैवातिथीन्‌ भोजयेच्च । अनाददानश्च परैरदत्तं सैषा गृहस्थोपनिषत्‌ पुराणी,गृहस्थ पुरुष न्यायसे प्राप्त हुए धनको पाकर उससे यज्ञ करे, दान दे और सदा अतिथियोंको भोजन करावे। दूसरोंकी वस्तु उनके दिये बिना ग्रहण नहीं करे। यह गृहस्थ- धर्मका प्राचीन एवं रहस्यमय स्वरूप है

Transliteration

aṣṭaka uvāca |

dharmāgataṁ prāpya dhanaṁ yajeta dadyāt sadaivātithīn bhojayec ca |

anādānaś ca parair adattaṁ saiṣā gṛhasthopaniṣat purāṇī ||

Translation

Aṣṭaka sprach: „Hat ein Hausherr Reichtum auf rechtschaffene Weise erlangt, so soll er Opfer (yajña) darbringen, Almosen geben und die Gäste beständig speisen. Er soll nichts nehmen, was einem anderen gehört, wenn es ihm nicht gegeben wurde. Dies ist die uralte innere Lehre — eine ‚geheime Doktrin‘ — vom Lebensweg des Hausherrn.“

Word by Word

• {'dharmāgatam': 'come through dharma

• acquired by righteous means', 'prāpya': 'having obtained, having reached', 'dhanam': 'wealth, property', 'yajeta': 'should sacrifice

• should perform yajña/ritual offering', 'dadyāt': 'should give

• should donate', 'sadaiva': 'always, continually', 'atithīn': 'guests (especially unexpected guests deserving hospitality)', 'bhojayet': 'should feed

• should cause to eat', 'ca': 'and', 'anādānaḥ': 'non-taking

• refraining from accepting/appropriating', 'paraiḥ': 'of others

• by others', 'adattam': 'not given

• ungifted, unpermitted', 'gṛhastha': 'householder (second āśrama)', 'upaniṣat': 'inner instruction

• secret/essential teaching', 'purāṇī': 'ancient, time-honored'}

Speaker

अद्टक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aṣṭaka
• atithi (guest)
• dhanam (wealth)
• yajña (sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A householder should use righteously earned wealth for yajña (sacrificial duty), dāna (charity), and atithi-sevā (hospitality), and must never appropriate anything not freely given—summarizing the ethical ‘inner doctrine’ of gṛhastha-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In this passage Aṣṭaka speaks in a didactic mode, laying down a concise rule of conduct for householders: righteous acquisition, generous giving, feeding guests, and strict avoidance of taking others’ property without consent.