Shloka 45

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उदाच सर्वगुह्मृतमं प्रश्न॑ पवित्रमृषिसंस्तुतम्‌ । कथयिष्यामि ते राजन्‌ धर्म्य धर्मभूतां वर,मार्कण्डेयजीने कहा--धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर! तुमने ऐसे विषयके लिये प्रश्न किया है, जो सबसे अधिक गोपनीय, पवित्र, धर्मसम्मत तथा ऋषियोंके लिये भी आदरणीय है। सुनो, मैं इस विषयका वर्णन करता हूँ

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | mārkaṇḍeya uvāca sarvaguhyatamaṃ praśnaṃ pavitram ṛṣisaṃstutam | kathayiṣyāmi te rājan dharmyaṃ dharmabhūtāṃ vara ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Mārkaṇḍeya said, “O King, best among the righteous, you have asked a question that is most secret, deeply purifying, in harmony with dharma, and praised even by the seers. Listen— I shall now explain this dharmic matter to you.”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'mārkaṇḍeya uvāca': 'Mārkaṇḍeya said', 'sarva-guhyatamam': 'most confidential of all

• deepest secret', 'praśnam': 'question

• inquiry', 'pavitram': 'purifying

• sacred', 'ṛṣi-saṃstutam': 'praised/commended by sages (ṛṣis)', 'kathayiṣyāmi': 'I shall narrate

• I will explain', 'te': 'to you', 'rājan': 'O king', 'dharmyam': 'in accordance with dharma

• righteous', 'dharmabhūtānām vara': 'best among those devoted to dharma (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the forthcoming instruction as a highly confidential yet purifying dharmic teaching, validated by the authority of the ṛṣis; it emphasizes that ethical knowledge can be both subtle (guhya) and universally revered.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva dialogue setting, Yudhiṣṭhira has posed a profound question; Mārkaṇḍeya responds by praising the question’s sanctity and then announces that he will explain the dharmic matter, with Vaiśampāyana reporting this exchange.