Shloka 10
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
भुदुक्ते च दानं तत् सर्व गर्भस्थस्तु नर: सदा । ददद् दान द्विजातिभ्यो वृद्धभावेन मानव:,जो तमोगुणसे आवृत हो भय और क्रोधपूर्वक दान देता है, वह मनुष्य वैसे सब प्रकारके दानोंका फल भावी जन्ममें गर्भावस्थामें भोगता है, अर्थात् तामसी दान करनेके कारण वह उसका फल दु:खके रूपमें भोगता है तथा (श्रेष्ठ) ब्राह्मणोंको दान देनेवाला मानव उस दानका फल बड़ा होनेपर (कामनाके अनुसार) भोगता है
Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca: bhayodvigne ca dānaṃ tat sarvaṃ garbhasthaḥ tu naraḥ sadā | dadad dānaṃ dvijātibhyo vṛddhabhāvena mānavaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “When a gift is made in fear, agitation, darkness of mind, or with anger, a person experiences the entire result of that giving in a future birth while still in the womb—meaning that such tamasic charity ripens as suffering. But the human being who gives with mature, reverent intent to the twice-born (worthy Brahmins) enjoys the fruit of that gift in a greater measure, according to the excellence of the recipient and the giver’s inner disposition.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The moral quality of a gift depends on the giver’s inner state: charity given under tamas—fear, anger, or confusion—yields painful karmic results, while charity given with mature reverence to worthy recipients yields greater, beneficial results.
In Mārkaṇḍeya’s instruction on dharma, he explains to the listener how different motives and mental states behind giving determine the kind of fruit (phala) one experiences, even across future births.