Shloka 26
Duryodhana’s Account of Gandharva Defeat and the Pandavas’ Intervention (दुर्योधनवर्णितो गन्धर्वसंग्रामः)
क्रियेत कस्मादपरे च कुर्यु- वित्त न दद्यु: पुरुषा: कथंचित् । प्राप्यार्थकालं च भवेदनर्थ: कथं न तत् स्यथादिति तत् कुतः स्थात्,“यदि यह विश्वास हो जाय तो हम लोभके वश होकर न करनेयोग्य काम क्यों करें और दूसरे भी क्यों करें एवं बुद्धिमान् मनुष्य भी उपार्जित धनका दान क्यों न करें? अर्थके उपयोगका समय प्राप्त होनेपर यदि उसका सदुपयोग न किया जाय तो वह अनर्थका हेतु हो जाता है। अतः विचार करना चाहिये कि उस धनका सदुपयोग क्यों नहीं होता और कैसे हो?
kriyeta kasmād apare ca kuryur
vittaṃ na dadyuḥ puruṣāḥ kathaṃcit |
prāpyārthakālaṃ ca bhaved anarthaḥ
kathaṃ na tat syathāditi tat kutaḥ sthāt ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “If such a conviction were to arise, then why, driven by greed, would people do what ought not to be done—and why would others follow suit? And how could even prudent men ever refrain from giving away the wealth they have acquired? For when the proper time comes to put wealth to use, if it is not rightly employed it turns into a cause of harm. Therefore one must reflect: why does that wealth fail to be used well, and how can it be made to serve its true purpose?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wealth has a dharmic purpose: when the proper occasion arrives, it should be used and shared rightly (especially through dāna). If hoarded or misused, it becomes anartha—harm and futility—so one should examine the causes of non-use and correct them.
Vaiśampāyana frames a reflective argument about human conduct: if people truly understood the consequences of greed and the moral necessity of timely, proper use of wealth, they would avoid wrongful acts and would not withhold giving. The verse functions as ethical commentary within the Vana Parva discourse.