Mahabharata 3.201.81 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 81
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
युधिछिर उवाच कि तच्छौचं भवेद् येन विप्र: शुद्ध: सदा भवेद् | तदिच्छामि महाप्राज्ञ श्रोतुं धर्मभृतां वर
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: ki tac chaucaṁ bhaved yena vipraḥ śuddhaḥ sadā bhavet | tad icchāmi mahāprājña śrotuṁ dharmabhṛtāṁ vara ||
Yudhiṣṭhira fragte: „O höchstweiser großer ṛṣi, Bester unter den Trägern des Dharma: Welche Reinheit (śauca) ist es, durch die ein Brāhmaṇa stets rein bleibt? Ich wünsche, davon zu hören.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: true purity (śauca) is not assumed but defined by dharma. Yudhiṣṭhira seeks the principle by which a brāhmaṇa remains continually ‘śuddha’, implying that lasting purity depends on sustained conduct and inner discipline, not merely occasional external cleansing.
In the forest setting of the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a highly wise dharma-authority (mahāprājña, ‘best among dharma-bearers’) and asks for instruction on the nature of śauca—what kind of purity ensures a brāhmaṇa’s constant purity.
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