Shloka 38
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
अन्न प्रजापतिश्नोक्त: स च संवत्सरो मतः । संवत्सरस्तु यज्ञोडसौ सर्व यज्ञे प्रतेष्ठितम्,अतः अन्न ही सबसे महत्त्वकी वस्तु है। उससे बढ़कर दूसरी कोई वस्तु नहीं है। वेदोंमें अन्नको प्रजापति कहा गया है। प्रजापति संवत्सर माना गया है। संवत्सर यज्ञरूप है और यज्ञमें सबकी स्थिति है
annaṁ prajāpatiś coktaḥ sa ca saṁvatsaro mataḥ | saṁvatsaras tu yajño ’sau sarvaṁ yajñe pratiṣṭhitam ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “Food is declared in the Vedas to be Prajāpati; and Prajāpati is understood as the Year (saṁvatsara). The Year itself is that very Sacrifice (yajña), and everything finds its foundation in sacrifice. Therefore, food is the most vital of all things—nothing surpasses it.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links food (anna), time (saṁvatsara), and sacrifice (yajña) as a single sustaining chain: food is revered as Prajāpati; Prajāpati is identified with the yearly cycle; the year is the form of sacrifice; and all beings and social order rest upon sacrifice. Ethically, it elevates the duty to produce, share, and honor food as a foundational dharma.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners by presenting a Vedic-style equivalence: food is not merely material nourishment but a sacred principle tied to cosmic time and yajña. The statement functions as a moral-philosophical teaching within the Vana Parva discourse, emphasizing the primacy of sustenance and sacrificial reciprocity.