Shloka 31
अश्वमेधावसानम् — Dakṣiṇā-vibhāga and Avabhṛtha
Completion of the Aśvamedha
एवं लब्ध्वा धनं मोहाद यो हि दद्याद् यजेत वा । न तस्य स फल प्रेत्य भुड़क्ते पापधनागमात्
evaṁ labdhvā dhanaṁ mohād yo hi dadyād yajeta vā | na tasya sa phalaṁ pretya bhuṅkte pāpadhanāgamāt ||
Vaiśampāyana said: If a person, deluded, acquires wealth through wrongdoing and then uses that very wealth for charity or for sacrifice, he does not enjoy its merit after death. The reason is that the wealth itself has arisen from sin.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit from charity or sacrifice depends not only on the act but also on the purity of its means. Wealth acquired through adharma becomes an obstacle to the posthumous fruit (phala) of dāna and yajña, because the sinful origin contaminates the offering.
Vaiśampāyana is delivering a dharma-oriented instruction within the Ashvamedhika Parva context, emphasizing that religious acts performed with resources gained through wrongdoing do not yield the expected spiritual reward after death.