Mahabharata 3.201.127 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 127
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नाभूमिदो भूमिमश्राति राजन् नायानदो यानमारुह्य याति । यान् यान् कामानू ब्राह्मुणे भ्यो ददाति तांसतान् कामान् जायमान: स भुड्क्ते
nābhūmido bhūmim aśnāti rājan nāyānado yānam āruhya yāti | yān yān kāmān brāhmaṇebhyo dadāti tāṃs tān kāmān jāyamānaḥ sa bhuṅkte rājan |
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „O König, wer kein Land verschenkt hat, genießt im Jenseits die Erde nicht; wer kein Fahrzeug verschenkt hat, besteigt dort kein Fahrzeug. Welche begehrenswerten Dinge ein Mensch in diesem Leben den Brahmanen gibt—eben diese Genüsse erlangt er, um sie zu erfahren, wenn er wiedergeboren wird.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity (especially gifts to Brahmins) is presented as a direct cause of corresponding enjoyments in future states: giving land leads to enjoying the earth, giving vehicles leads to conveyance, and gifts of desired goods return as future enjoyments through karma and rebirth.
Mārkaṇḍeya addresses a king and explains the fruit of dāna: specific forms of giving determine the kind of comfort and access one gains in the afterlife and in future births, reinforcing a dharma-based economy of merit.
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