Shloka 20
अध्याय २७०: प्रहस्त-वधः, धूम्राक्ष-हननं, कुम्भकर्ण-प्रबोधनम्
Chapter 270: Slaying of Prahasta; Defeat of Dhūmrākṣa; Awakening of Kumbhakarṇa
ददाति कस्मैचिदनरह्ते तनुं वराज्यपूर्णामिव भस्मनि खुचम् | पुरा तुषाग्नाविव हूयते हवि: पुरा श्मशाने स्रगिवापविद्धयते
dadāti kasmaicid anarhate tanuṁ varājyapūrṇām iva bhasmani khucam | purā tuṣāgnāv iva hūyate haviḥ purā śmaśāne srag ivāpavidhyate
Vaiśampāyana said: One gives (a precious thing) to someone unworthy—like pouring a vessel full of fine royal unguent onto ashes. It is like offering oblations into a fire of chaff; like casting a garland away in a cremation-ground. The point is that generosity without discernment—bestowing gifts where there is no fitness to receive—destroys the gift’s purpose and turns merit into waste.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gifts should be guided by viveka (discernment): giving to an unworthy recipient is compared to wasting precious offerings in ashes or a worthless fire, implying that charity gains meaning and merit only when aligned with dharma and fitness.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral observation using vivid similes: a valuable substance poured into ashes, oblations offered into a chaff-fire, and a garland thrown in a cremation-ground—each image illustrating the futility of misdirected generosity.