Mahabharata — Vana Parva, Shloka 126
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ऋतुषु दशगुणं वदन्ति दत्तं शतगुणमृत्वयनादिदषु ध्रुवम् । भवति सहस्रगुणं दिनस्य राहो- विंषुवति चाक्षयमश्लुते फलम्
ṛtuṣu daśaguṇaṁ vadanti dattaṁ śataguṇam ṛtvayanādiṣu dhruvam | bhavati sahasraguṇaṁ dinasya rāho-viṣuvati cākṣayam aśnute phalam ||
मार्कण्डेय बोले— ऋतु-आरम्भ के अवसर पर दिया हुआ दान दसगुना पुण्य देता है; अयन आदि पवित्र संधियों के दिन दिया हुआ दान निश्चय ही सौगुना फल देता है। राहु के दिन—अर्थात् ग्रहण के दिन—दिया हुआ दान सहस्रगुना फल देता है; और विषुव-योग में किया हुआ दान अक्षय फल प्रदान करता है॥
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the ethical power of dāna (charitable giving) is intensified when performed at cosmically significant times—seasons, solstices (ayana), eclipses (associated with Rāhu), and equinoxes (viṣuva)—with the equinox gift described as yielding inexhaustible (akṣaya) merit.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners on dharma by explaining traditional gradations of merit for gifts given on particular calendrical and astronomical occasions, emphasizing how timing (kāla) is understood to shape the fruit (phala) of righteous acts.
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