Shloka 49
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नरा: स्त्रियस्तथैवान्ये पृथिव्यां जीवसंज्ञिता: । यमराजकी आज्ञाका पालन करनेवाले यमदूत इस पृथ्वीपर आकर यहाँके पुरुषों, स्त्रियों तथा अन्य जीवोंको बलपूर्वक पकड़ ले जाते हैं || ४८ ई ।। ब्राह्मणेभ्य: प्रदानानि नानारूपाणि पार्थिव,राजन! जिनके द्वारा यहाँ ब्राह्मणोंको नाना प्रकारके अश्व आदि वाहनोंका उत्कृष्ट दान किया गया है, वे उस मार्गपर (उन्हीं वाहनोंद्वारा सुखसे) यात्रा करते हैं। छत्र-दान करनेवाले मनुष्य वहाँ प्राप्त हुए छत्रके द्वारा ही धूपका निवारण करते हुए चलते हैं
narāḥ striyas tathaivānye pṛthivyāṃ jīvasaṃjñitāḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Men, women, and all other beings known as living creatures upon the earth—these are seized and carried off by Yama’s messengers, who come to this world to enforce the command of Yamarāja. Those who, O king, have made excellent gifts to Brāhmaṇas—gifts of many kinds such as fine horses and other conveyances—travel that onward path in comfort by means of those very vehicles. And those who have given umbrellas proceed there shading themselves with the umbrellas they have earned, warding off the heat as they go.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage links ethical action—especially dāna (charitable giving) to worthy recipients—with concrete post-mortem consequences: gifts become aids on the soul’s journey, while Yama’s messengers enforce the moral order by taking beings at death.
Vaiśampāyana describes how Yama’s servants come to earth and forcibly take living beings, and then explains that donors—particularly those who gave vehicles or umbrellas to Brāhmaṇas—experience corresponding comforts on the path after death, using the very forms of merit they created.