Mahabharata 3.201.10 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 10
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
भुदुक्ते च दानं तत् सर्व गर्भस्थस्तु नर: सदा । ददद् दान द्विजातिभ्यो वृद्धभावेन मानव:
Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca: bhayodvigne ca dānaṃ tat sarvaṃ garbhasthaḥ tu naraḥ sadā | dadad dānaṃ dvijātibhyo vṛddhabhāvena mānavaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Wird eine Gabe aus Furcht, Aufgewühltheit, geistiger Finsternis oder im Zorn gegeben, so erfährt der Mensch die ganze Frucht dieses Gebens in einer künftigen Geburt noch im Mutterleib: tamasische Wohltätigkeit reift als Leid. Wer aber mit gereifter, ehrfürchtiger Gesinnung den Zweimalgeborenen (würdigen Brāhmaṇas) gibt, genießt die Frucht dieser Gabe in größerem Maß, gemäß der Vortrefflichkeit des Empfängers und der inneren Haltung des Gebers.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral quality of a gift depends on the giver’s inner state: charity given under tamas—fear, anger, or confusion—yields painful karmic results, while charity given with mature reverence to worthy recipients yields greater, beneficial results.
In Mārkaṇḍeya’s instruction on dharma, he explains to the listener how different motives and mental states behind giving determine the kind of fruit (phala) one experiences, even across future births.
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