Shloka 16
अध्याय २९४ — योगलक्षणम् तथा सांख्यपरिसंख्यानम्
Yoga Definition and Sāṃkhya Enumeration
स्वल्पाप्यर्था: प्रशस्यन्ते धर्मस्यार्थे महाफला: । पराशरजी कहते हैं--राजन! ब्राह्मणके यहाँ प्रतिग्रहसे मिला हुआ, क्षत्रियके घर युद्धसे जीतकर लाया हुआ, वैश्यके पास न्यायपूर्वक (खेती आदिसे) कमाया हुआ और शूद्रके यहाँ सेवासे प्राप्त हुआ थोड़ा-सा भी धन हो तो उसकी बड़ी प्रशंसा होती है तथा धर्मके कार्यमें उसका उपभोग हो तो वह महान् फल देनेवाला होता है,तेन सम ते गगनगा: सपुरा: पातिता: क्षितौ । त्रिधाप्येकेन बाणेन देवाप्पायिततेजसा तब शिवजीने देवताओंके द्वारा बढ़ाये हुए तेजसे युक्त एक ही शक्तिशाली बाणके द्वारा तीन नगरोंसहित आकाशमें विचरनेवाले उन समस्त असुरोंको मारकर पृथ्वीपर गिरा दिया
svalpāpy arthāḥ praśasyante dharmasyārthe mahāphalāḥ | tena sam te gaganagāḥ sapurāḥ pātitāḥ kṣitau | tridhāpy ekena bāṇena devāppāyita-tejasā ||
Parāśara said: “Even a small amount of wealth is worthy of praise when it is acquired in accordance with one’s own social duty; and when such wealth is employed for the purposes of dharma, it yields great fruit. By that very principle, those beings who moved through the sky together with their cities were struck down and made to fall upon the earth—three (cities) were brought down by a single arrow, empowered by the splendor augmented by the gods.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even modest resources, when obtained through one’s rightful duty and then used for dharma, become highly praiseworthy and yield great spiritual and ethical results.
Parāśara states a moral principle about dharmic wealth and then illustrates overwhelming efficacy through a martial image: sky-moving beings with their cities are brought down, and the three cities are felled by a single arrow empowered by divine radiance.