Shloka 6
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
आरूढपतिते दत्तमन्यायोपहृतं च यत् । व्यर्थ तु पतिते दान॑ ब्राह्मणे तस्करे तथा,जो वानप्रस्थ या संन्यास-आश्रमसे पुन: गृहस्थ-आश्रममें लौट आया हो, उसे “आरूढ़- पतित' कहते हैं। उसको दिया हुआ दान व्यर्थ होता है। अन्यायसे कमाये हुए धनका दान भी व्यर्थ ही है। पतित ब्राह्मण तथा चोरको दिया हुआ दान भी व्यर्थ होता है
ārūḍha-patite dattaṁ anyāyopahṛtaṁ ca yat | vyarthaṁ tu patite dānaṁ brāhmaṇe taskare tathā ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: A gift given to one who has fallen after having taken up the higher discipline (the ‘ārūḍha-patita’) is fruitless; likewise, whatever is offered from wealth obtained through injustice is also fruitless. So too, charity given to a fallen brāhmaṇa, and to a thief, comes to nothing. The teaching stresses that the moral standing of both the recipient and the source of the wealth determines whether giving becomes true merit or mere waste.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is not automatically meritorious: it becomes meaningful only when the wealth is righteously acquired and the recipient is a worthy vessel. Gifts to an ‘ārūḍha-patita’ (one fallen from higher vows), to a morally fallen brāhmaṇa, or to a thief are declared fruitless, and offerings made from unjustly gained wealth are likewise without spiritual result.
In Mārkaṇḍeya’s instruction on dharma, he lays down criteria for valid dāna (giving). He lists cases where giving fails to yield merit—because of the recipient’s fallen conduct or because the donor’s wealth is tainted by injustice—thereby guiding the listener toward ethically grounded generosity.