Mahabharata 3.201.8 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 8
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ब्रह्मबन्धुषु यद् दत्तं यद् दत्तं वृषलीपतौ । स्त्रीजनेषु च यद् दत्तं व्यालग्राहे तथैव च
brahmabandhuṣu yad dattaṃ yad dattaṃ vṛṣalīpatau | strījaneṣu ca yad dattaṃ vyālagrāhe tathaiva ca
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Welche Gabe auch immer einem ‘Brahmanen nur dem Namen nach’ (dem es an wahrer brahmanischer Lebensführung fehlt) gegeben wird, welche Gabe dem Gatten einer niedriggeborenen Frau gegeben wird, welche Gabe Frauen als Gruppe ohne Unterscheidung gegeben wird, und ebenso welche Gabe gegeben wird, wenn man von einem Räuber oder reißenden Tier gepackt ist—ein solches Geben gilt als sittlich mangelhaft, weil es ohne Erwägung von Würdigkeit, Zweck und rechter Gelegenheit geschieht.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity (dāna) must be guided by discernment: the recipient’s worthiness and the context of giving matter. Gifts made to improper recipients or under coercive, fear-driven circumstances are portrayed as ethically flawed and spiritually unfruitful.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners on standards of dharma, specifically evaluating types of giving. He lists examples of donations considered misdirected—given to unworthy persons or in compromised situations—within a broader didactic passage on righteous conduct.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.