Shloka 204
मातापितृपूजन-प्रधानधर्मः (Primacy of Filial Service) — Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of the Vyādha’s Instruction
जो मनुष्य भगवान् विष्णुके कीर्तनरूप इस पवित्र उपाख्यानको सुनता है वह धर्मात्मा और पुत्रवान् होता है। जो पर्वोपर इस कथाको सुनता है वह दीर्घायु तथा ऐश्वर्यशाली होता है। उसे रोग आदिका कुछ भी भय नहीं होता। उसकी सारी चिन्ताएँ दूर हो जाती हैं ।। इति श्रीमहा भारते वनपर्वणि मार्कण्डेयसमास्यापर्वणि धुन्धुमारोपाख्याने चतुरधिकद्विशततमो<ध्याय:
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca | yo manuṣyo bhagavān viṣṇoḥ kīrtanarūpaṃ idaṃ pavitram upākhyānaṃ śṛṇoti sa dharmātmā ca putravān bhavati | yaḥ parvopari imāṃ kathāṃ śṛṇoti sa dīrghāyuḥ tathā aiśvaryavān bhavati | tasya rogādikāni bhayāni na santi | tasya sarvāś cintāḥ dūrībhavanti || iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi mārkaṇḍeyasamāsyāparvaṇi dhundhumāropākhyāne caturadhikadvīśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya dijo: Quien escucha este relato sagrado—que es, en esencia, alabanza del Señor Viṣṇu—se vuelve justo y es bendecido con hijos varones. Quien lo oye en cada parva alcanza larga vida y prosperidad. No teme a las enfermedades ni a nada semejante, y todas sus preocupaciones se disipan. Así concluye, en el Mahābhārata, en el Vana Parva, dentro de la sección Markandeya-Samasya, el episodio de Dhundhumāra, capítulo 204.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a phalaśruti: attentive hearing of a sacred narrative that functions as praise of Vishnu is itself a dharmic act, believed to yield ethical steadiness (dharmātmā), familial flourishing (putravān), longevity, prosperity, freedom from fear of illness, and the calming of mental distress.
Markandeya concludes the Dhundhumara-related upākhyāna with a customary closing benediction, stating the spiritual and worldly fruits of listening to the story—especially when heard repeatedly across parva occasions—thereby framing the tale as both devotional praise and moral instruction.