Shloka 53

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

Devanagari script

यान्ति चैवापरिक्लिष्टा नस: सस्यप्रदायका: । नरा: सुखतरं यान्ति विमानेषु गृहप्रदा:,खेतमें लगी हुई खेती दान करनेवाले मनुष्य बिना किसी कष्टके जाते हैं। गृहदान करनेवाले मानव विमानोंपर बैठकर अत्यन्त सुख-सुविधाके साथ जाते हैं

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yānti caivāparikliṣṭā naraḥ sasyapradāyakāḥ | narāḥ sukhataram yānti vimāneṣu gṛhapradāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Those men who give away cultivated fields that yield grain depart from this world without distress. Those who donate houses depart even more happily, borne along in celestial aerial cars—enjoying superior ease and comfort. The passage underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethic that gifts sustaining others’ livelihood and shelter generate especially auspicious posthumous results.

Word by Word

यान्तिgo, proceed

चand

एवindeed, just

अपरिक्लिष्टाःuntroubled, without hardship

नराःmen, persons

सस्यप्रदायकाःgivers of crops/produce (donors of cultivated produce/fields)

सुखतरम्more pleasantly, with greater ease (as an adverbial accusative)

यान्तिgo, proceed

विमानेषुin aerial cars, in celestial chariots

गृहप्रदाःgivers of houses (donors of dwellings)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

vimāna (celestial aerial car)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Gifts that directly sustain life—productive land yielding food and especially a dwelling that provides shelter—are praised as high forms of dāna; they lead to an untroubled and happier passage after death, symbolized by travel in vimānas.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s ongoing discourse on the fruits of charitable acts, he specifies the posthumous rewards for donating cultivated fields and houses: the former brings a painless departure, while the latter grants an even more joyous journey in celestial conveyances.