Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 55
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
वाणिज्यं सत्पथस्थानमातिथ्यं प्रशमो दम: । विप्राणां स्वागतं त्यागो वैश्यधर्म: सनातन:
vāṇijyaṁ satpathasthānam ātithyaṁ praśamo damaḥ | viprāṇāṁ svāgataṁ tyāgo vaiśyadharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Śrī Maheshvara bersabda: “Perdagangan yang dijalankan di jalan benar, penghormatan kepada tamu, ketenangan batin dan pengendalian diri, memuliakan serta menyambut para Brahmana, dan kemurahan hati melalui pelepasan—itulah dharma abadi bagi Vaiśya.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the perennial ethical duties of the Vaiśya: earn through commerce without abandoning righteousness, practice hospitality, cultivate mental calm and sensory restraint, honor Brahmins, and practice generosity/renunciation.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Śrī Maheśvara is presented as teaching dharma; here he enumerates the characteristic obligations of the Vaiśya within the broader discourse on conduct and social duties.