Shloka 73
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
प्रतिग्रहं गृहीत्वा यः पुनर्ददति साधवे । फलानां फलमश्नाति तदा दत्त्वा च भारत,भारत! जो सोनेकी नाक और सुन्दर चाँदीके खुरोंसे विभूषित, सब प्रकारके रत्नोंसे अलंकृत, काली गौको तिलोंसे प्रच्छादित करके उसका दान करता है और जो उस दानको लेकर पुनः किसी दूसरे श्रेष्ठ पुरुषको अर्पित कर देता है, वह सर्वोत्तम फलका भागी होता है
pratigrahaṃ gṛhītvā yaḥ punar dadāti sādhave | phalānāṃ phalam aśnāti tadā dattvā ca bhārata ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “He who, having accepted a gift, gives it again to a worthy and virtuous person, partakes of the very ‘fruit of fruits’—the highest merit—O Bhārata. Thus, even after receiving, by re-giving in the right spirit and to the right recipient, one attains the supreme result of charity.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the highest merit of charity is not merely in receiving or possessing gifts, but in re-directing what one has received toward a truly worthy person. Re-giving (punar-dāna) transforms acceptance into a superior act of dharma, yielding the ‘fruit of fruits’—the best spiritual result.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a principle of dāna-dharma: if someone accepts a donation and then offers it onward to a virtuous recipient, that person gains exceptional merit. The statement functions as ethical instruction within a broader discussion on gifts, merit, and proper conduct.