Mahabharata 3.201.87 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 87
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नाध्यापनाद् याजनाद् वा अन्यस्माद् वा प्रतिग्रहात् | दोषो भवति विप्राणां ज्वलिताग्निसमा द्विजा:
nādhyāpanād yājanād vā anyasmād vā pratigrahāt | doṣo bhavati viprāṇāṁ jvalitāgnisamā dvijāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Für Brāhmaṇas entsteht kein sittlicher Makel durch das Lehren, durch das Vorstehen bei Opfern oder durch das Annehmen von Gaben auf andere rechte Weise. Solche Zweimalgeborenen, ihren Riten ergeben, sind wie loderndes Feuer—strahlend und reinigend—und daher beflecken diese Pflichten des Lebensunterhalts sie nicht.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that a brāhmaṇa is not morally tainted by the traditional livelihood-duties of teaching, officiating sacrifices, and accepting appropriate gifts; when performed as dharma, these acts are purifying and legitimate.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a dharma-principle about brāhmaṇas, defending the propriety of their sanctioned occupations and comparing such disciplined twice-born men to blazing fire that remains pure while purifying others.
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