Shloka 143
Kāla (Right Time), Effort, and the Ethics of Giving — कालः, प्रयत्नः, दानधर्मश्च
गिरिराजकुमारी! शूद्र धर्माचरण करनेसे जिस प्रकार ब्राह्मणत्वको प्राप्त करता है तथा ब्राह्मण स्वधर्मका त्याग करके जातिसे भ्रष्ट होकर जिस प्रकार शूद्र हो जाता है, यह गूढ़ रहस्यकी बात मैंने तुम्हें बतला दी ।।
Girirājakumārī! śūdra dharmācaraṇa karanese jis prakāra brāhmaṇatva ko prāpta kartā hai tathā brāhmaṇa svadharma kā tyāga karke jāti se bhraṣṭa hokar jis prakāra śūdra ho jātā hai, yah gūḍha rahasya kī bāt maine tumheṁ batalā dī. Iti śrīmahābhārate anuśāsanaparvaṇi dānadharmaparvaṇi umāmaheśvarasaṁvāde tricatvāriṁśad-adhika-śatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ.
Maheshvara sprach: „O Tochter des Königs der Berge! Ich habe dir dieses tiefe Geheimnis offenbart: wie ein Śūdra durch die Ausübung des Dharma den Stand eines Brāhmaṇa erlangen kann; und wie ein Brāhmaṇa, wenn er seine eigene vorgeschriebene Pflicht (svadharma) aufgibt, aus seiner Kaste fällt und als Śūdra gilt.“ So endet im Mahabharata, in der Anushasana-Parva, innerhalb des Abschnitts über das Dharma des Schenkens, der Dialog zwischen Umā und Maheshvara — Kapitel 143.
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and religious status is tied to conduct: diligent observance of dharma can elevate a person, while abandoning one’s prescribed duty (svadharma) leads to degradation and loss of standing. The verse frames varṇa not merely as birth-identity but as ethically contingent upon behavior and fidelity to duty.
In the Umā–Maheśvara dialogue, Śiva addresses Umā (Pārvatī) and concludes a teaching by revealing a “profound secret” about how adherence to dharma elevates and how neglect of svadharma causes downfall. The remainder is the colophon marking the end of the chapter within Anuśāsana Parva’s Dānadharma section.