Shloka 125
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
अयने विषुवे चैव षडशीतिमुखेषु च । चन्द्रसूयोपरागे च दत्तमक्षयमुच्यते,पर्वके अवसरपर दिया हुआ दान दुगुना तथा ऋतु आरम्भ होनेके समय दिया हुआ दान दस गुना पुण्यदायक होता है। उत्तरायण या दक्षिणायन आरम्भ होनेके दिन, विषुव-योग (तुला और मेषकी संक्रान्ति)-में, मिथुन, कन्या, धनु और मीनकी संक्रान्तियोंमें तथा चन्द्रगरहण और सूर्यग्रहणके अवसरपर दिया हुआ दान अक्षय बताया गया है
ayane viṣuve caiva ṣaḍaśītimukheṣu ca | candrasūryoparāge ca dattam akṣayam ucyate ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “A gift given at the turning of the sun’s course (the beginnings of Uttarāyaṇa or Dakṣiṇāyaṇa), at the equinoxes, at the key solar ingresses known as the ‘six-and-eighty gateways,’ and at lunar or solar eclipses is declared imperishable in merit. Charity, when aligned with sacred times, becomes a lasting act of dharma whose spiritual fruit does not diminish.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity (dāna) gains special, enduring spiritual efficacy when performed at sacred calendrical junctions—especially ayana transitions, equinoxes, and eclipses—so that the merit is described as akṣaya (inexhaustible).
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners on dharma by listing auspicious times for giving, highlighting how timing and intention elevate the ethical and religious value of a gift.