Shloka 26
Nakula’s Counsel on Yajña, Dāna, and Tyāga (नकुलोपदेशः—यज्ञदानत्यागविचारः)
स रत्नानि विचित्राणि संहृतानि ततस्तत: । मखेष्वनभिसंत्यज्य नास्तिक्यमभिजल्पसि,इधर-उधरसे जो विचित्र रत्न संग्रह करके लाये गये हैं, उनका यज्ञोंमें वितरण न करके आप नास्तिकताकी बातें कर रहे हैं
sa ratnāni vicitrāṇi saṁhṛtāni tatastataḥ | makheṣv anabhisaṁtyajya nāstikyam abhijalpasi ||
Nakul said: “These various precious gems have been gathered from here and there; yet, without distributing them in sacrificial rites, you speak words of disbelief. To hoard what has been collected and then deny the sacred order is ethically inconsistent—wealth is meant to be purified and shared through dharmic giving, not used to justify irreverence.”
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wealth gathered from many sources should be aligned with dharma through sacrificial giving and charitable distribution; hoarding while professing disbelief is portrayed as a moral contradiction and a failure of social-religious duty.
Nakula rebukes the addressee for collecting valuable gems but not allocating them for sacrificial rites, and then speaking in a manner that denies or disparages religious duty (nāstikya).