Mahabharata 3.201.65 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 65

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उदाच धर्मान्तरं प्रति कथां कथ्यमानां मया नृप । सर्वपापहरां नित्यं शृणुष्वावहितो मम

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca dharmāntaraṃ prati kathāṃ kathyamānāṃ mayā nṛpa | sarvapāpaharāṃ nityaṃ śṛṇuṣvāvahito mama ||

Translation

Markandeya sprach: „O König, nun will ich eine andere Rede über den Dharma vortragen. Sie vermag stets alle Sünden zu tilgen. Höre mir mit voller Aufmerksamkeit zu.“

Word by Word

• {'mārkaṇḍeya uvāca': 'Markandeya said', 'dharmāntaram': 'another aspect/path of dharma

• a further teaching on righteousness', 'prati': 'with regard to

• concerning', 'kathām': 'account

• narrative', 'kathyamānām': 'being told

• being narrated', 'mayā': 'by me', 'nṛpa': 'O king', 'sarva-pāpa-harām': 'removing all sins

• sin-destroying', 'nityam': 'always

• perpetually', 'śṛṇuṣva': 'listen (imperative, 2nd person singular)', 'āvahitaḥ': 'attentive

• vigilant', 'mama': 'to me

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Nṛpa (the king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes attentive listening to dharma-instruction, presenting dharma as a continual purifier that removes sin when heard and internalized with concentration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Markandeya addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and signals a transition to a new section of dharma-related teaching, asking him to listen carefully to the forthcoming discourse.