Shloka 42
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
अन्नदा: प्रथमं यान्ति सत्यवाक् तदनन्तरम् | अयाचितप्रदाता च सम॑ यान्ति त्रयो जना:,अन्न-दान करनेवाले पुरुष पहले स्वर्गमें प्रवेश करते हैं। उसके बाद सत्यवादी जाता है। फिर बिना माँगे ही दान करनेवाला पुरुष जाता है। इस प्रकार ये तीनों पुण्यात्मा मानव समान गतिको प्राप्त होते हैं
annadāḥ prathamaṃ yānti satyavāk tad-anantaram | ayācitapradātā ca samaṃ yānti trayo janāḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Those who give food attain heaven first. After them goes the one who speaks truth. Next goes the giver who offers without being asked. Thus these three—each devoted to a distinct form of merit—reach the same blessed destination.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks three dharmic virtues—feeding others, truthfulness, and giving without solicitation—showing that while their precedence may differ, all lead to the same auspicious spiritual end.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners by stating a moral hierarchy of meritorious acts and their फल (result): entry to heaven and an equal blessed destiny for these three types of virtuous persons.