Shloka 39

Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)

Devanagari script

“धर्मात्मा पुरुषको चाहिये कि वह यशके लोभसे

Transliteration

asamyak caiva yad dattam asamyak ca pratigrahaḥ | ubhayaṃ syād anarthāya dātur ādātur eva ca ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: A gift not given in the proper manner, and an acceptance not received in the proper manner—both become sources of harm, for the giver as well as for the receiver. One should not give out of greed for fame, out of fear, or as mere repayment to a benefactor; such giving is not true dāna. Nor should one give to dancers and singers, jesters and scoffers, the intoxicated and deranged, thieves, slanderers, the mute, the lusterless, the maimed, dwarfs, the wicked, those born of tainted lineage, or those devoid of vows and purificatory rites. Except for a śrotriya, one should not give to a Brahmin lacking Vedic knowledge.

Word by Word

• {'asamyak': 'not proper

• not according to right rule or correct method', 'ca': 'and', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatically', 'yad': 'whatever

• that which', 'dattam': "given

• bestowed (past passive participle of √dā, 'to give')", 'pratigrahaḥ': 'acceptance

• receiving (especially of gifts), also the act of taking', 'ubhayaṃ': 'both (the two: giving and receiving)', 'syāt': "would be

• becomes (optative of √as, 'to be')", 'anarthāya': 'for harm

• leading to undesirable consequence', 'dātuḥ': 'of the giver (genitive of dātṛ)', 'ādātuḥ': "of the receiver (genitive of ādātṛ, 'one who takes/receives')", 'eva ca': 'and indeed

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That charity (dāna) is ethically effective only when both sides follow proper dharmic standards: the gift must be given with correct intention and procedure, and it must be accepted in a proper manner. Otherwise, both giver and receiver incur harm rather than merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Vyāsa delivers a normative teaching about dāna: he emphasizes that improper giving and improper acceptance are mutually damaging, reinforcing that moral outcomes depend on method and context, not merely on the act of transfer.