Mahabharata 3.201.343 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 343
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
अन्नदातृसम: सो<पि कीर््यते नात्र संशय: । यदि कोई रास्तेके थके-माँदे
annadātṛ-samaḥ so ’pi kīryate nātra saṃśayaḥ |
मार्कण्डेय बोले—वह भी अन्नदाता के समान ही कहा जाता है, इसमें संशय नहीं। जब मार्ग का थका-माँदा, दुबला-पतला पथिक धूलभरे पैरों से, भूख-प्यास से पीड़ित होकर पूछे—“क्या यहाँ कोई अन्न देने वाला है?” तब जो विद्वान उसे जहाँ अन्न मिल सकता है, उसका पता बता देता है, वह भी अन्नदाता के तुल्य माना जाता है।
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Helping the hungry is not limited to physically giving food; even guiding a needy traveler to a source of food is ethically equivalent to feeding him, and is praised as the merit of an annadātā.
Mārkaṇḍeya is explaining a principle of dharma: in a situation where a hungry, thirsty traveler seeks help, the person who provides reliable direction to obtain food is honored as though he himself had given food.
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