Shloka 29
कालनियमः शोकशमनं च
Kāla as Regulator; Pacification of Grief
ये स्वधर्मादपेतेभ्य: प्रयच्छन्त्यल्पबुद्धय: । शतं वर्षाणि ते प्रेत्य पुरीषं भुज्जते जना:,“जो मन्दबुद्धि मानव अपने धर्मसे गिरे हुए मनुष्योंको धन देते हैं, वे मरनेके बाद सौ वर्षोंतक विष्ठा भोजन करते हैं
ye svadharmādapetebhyaḥ prayacchanty alpabuddhayaḥ | śataṃ varṣāṇi te pretya purīṣaṃ bhuñjate janāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Those of little discernment who give (wealth or support) to people who have fallen away from their own dharma—after death, such persons are said to eat filth for a hundred years. The verse warns that charity, when directed toward the unrighteous and used to sustain adharma, becomes ethically tainted and yields painful consequences rather than merit.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is not automatically meritorious; it must be guided by discernment and dharma. Supporting those who have abandoned righteous conduct is portrayed as enabling adharma, bringing severe posthumous suffering rather than spiritual merit.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral injunction within the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, emphasizing standards for righteous giving and warning of karmic consequences when gifts are misdirected toward the dharma-fallen.