Shloka 26
द्रव्याण्याददते चैव दुःखं यान्ति पतन्ति च । ततोअचन्यत् कर्म यक्किंचिन्न पुण्यं न च पातकम्,जो मनुष्य दूसरोंके धन चुराते हैं, वे दुःख पाते और नरकमें पड़ते हैं। इन उपर्युक्त शुभाशुभ कर्मोसे भिन्न जो साधारण चेष्टा है, वह न तो पुण्य है और न तो पाप ही है
dravyāṇy ādadate caiva duḥkhaṃ yānti patanti ca | tato 'nyat karma yat kiṃcin na puṇyaṃ na ca pātakam ||
Vyāsa said: Those who seize the property of others inevitably meet with suffering and fall into hell. Apart from such acts of merit and demerit, whatever other ordinary activity there is—mere routine exertion—counts as neither virtue nor sin.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Appropriating another’s wealth is explicitly condemned: it leads to suffering and a fall into hell. The verse also distinguishes morally charged actions (puṇya/pātaka) from morally neutral, everyday activities that do not accrue merit or sin.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused discourse, Vyāsa states a moral rule about theft and its consequences, then clarifies that not every action is ethically weighty—some ordinary actions are neutral, neither virtuous nor sinful.