Mahabharata — Svargarohana Parva, Shloka 79

Devanagari script

तदर्थ पादशेषं वा वित्तशाव्यविवर्जितम्‌ । यद्‌ यदेवात्मनो<भीष्टं तत्‌ तद्‌ देयं द्विजातये

Transliteration

tadarthaṃ pādaśeṣaṃ vā vittāśāvyavivarjitam | yad yad evātmano 'bhīṣṭaṃ tat tad deyaṃ dvijātaye ||

Translation

यदि पूरी मात्रा देना न बन पड़े तो शेष अंश भी दे—धन होते हुए कंजूसी का लेश भी न रहे। जो-जो वस्तु अपने को प्रिय हो, वही-वही द्विज (ब्राह्मण) को दान में देनी चाहिए।

Word by Word

• {'tadartham': 'for that purpose

• with that aim (of giving/merit)', 'pādaśeṣam': 'a remaining quarter/fraction

• what is left as a portion', 'vā': 'or', 'vitta': 'wealth, money, means', 'āśāvyavivarjitam': 'free from stinginess/avarice

• not tainted by miserliness (especially when one has wealth)', 'yad yad': 'whatever, whichever (things)', 'eva': 'indeed, precisely', 'ātmanaḥ': 'of oneself

• one’s own', 'abhīṣṭam': 'desired, dear, cherished', 'tat tat': 'that very (same) thing', 'deyam': 'should be given

• fit to be given (as a gift)', 'dvijātaye': 'to a twice-born

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• dvijāti (Brāhmaṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity should be sincere and free from miserliness: even if one can give only a small fraction, one should still give; and the best gifts are those one truly values, offered to worthy recipients such as Brāhmaṇas.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Svargārohaṇa context, Vaiśaṃpāyana continues ethical instruction emphasizing dāna: the measure may vary with capacity, but the inner attitude must not be stingy, and one should give cherished items to the twice-born.