Shloka 30
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
धृतराष्ट उवाच ये दानशीला न प्रतिगृह्नते सदा नचाप्यर्थाक्षाददते परेभ्य: | येषामदेयमर्हते नास्ति किंचित् सर्वातिथ्या: सुप्रसादा जनाश्व
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | ye dānaśīlā na pratigṛhṇate sadā na cāpy arthākṣād adate parebhyaḥ | yeṣām adeyam arhate nāsti kiñcit sarvātithyāḥ suprasādā janāś ca ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O great sage! Those who are devoted to giving and never accept gifts; who do not take wealth from others by force or coercion; for whom, when a worthy recipient is present, nothing is deemed ‘not to be given’; who honor every guest and remain kindly disposed toward all people—such persons, ever living as a public source of food and merit, attain the Soma-world. But Dhṛtarāṣṭra will not reach even that realm.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises a dharmic ideal: give consistently, do not accept gifts for oneself, do not seize others’ wealth, and treat every person as a guest with kindness. Such conduct generates puṇya leading to heavenly attainment (Somaloka), while moral failure can bar one even from that reward.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses a great sage and reflects on the destiny of the truly charitable and hospitable. In the surrounding discourse of Anuśāsana Parva, this functions as an ethical evaluation of conduct and its posthumous results, with Dhṛtarāṣṭra implicitly contrasting himself with the praised ideal.