Shloka 10
Āraṇyaka-parva Adhyāya 199: Dharmavyādha on Svakarma, Vidhi, and the Limits of Ahiṃsā
य एष ददाति चासूयति च तेन व्याह्ृतेन तथावतरेत् । अथ द्वाभ्यां यातव्यमिति को<डवतरेत्,'ये प्रतर्दन दान देते हैं और ब्राह्मणकी निन््दा भी करते हैं, अतः वह निन्दायुक्त वचन बोलनेके कारण पहले इन्हींको स्वर्गसे उतरना पड़ेगा। तब पुनः प्रश्न किया गया, “हम शेष दो भाई जा रहे हैं, उनमेंसे कौन पहले स्वर्गसे नीचे उतरेगा?”
vaiśampāyana uvāca | ya eṣa dadāti cāsūyati ca tena vyāhṛtena tathāvataret | atha dvābhyāṃ yātavyam iti ko 'vataret |
Vaiśampāyana said: “He who gives gifts yet also speaks with malice and disparagement—because of such uttered words, tainted by censure, must be the first to descend from heaven. Then the question was asked again: ‘Now the remaining two brothers are to go; which of them will descend first from heaven?’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit from giving is weakened by asūyā—fault-finding and disparaging speech. Ethical speech is treated as a decisive factor: harmful words can bring an earlier fall from heavenly reward even when one performs charitable acts.
A judgment is being made about who must descend from heaven first. The one who both gives and maligns (especially by censuring brāhmaṇas) is declared to descend first because of his blame-laden utterance; then the discussion turns to which of the remaining two brothers will descend next.