Shloka 82
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
मार्कण्डेय उदाच वाक्शौचं कर्मशौचं च यच्च शौचं जलात्मकम् | त्रिभि: शौचैरुपेतो यः स स्वर्गी नात्र संशय:,मार्कण्डेयजीने कहा--राजन्! शौच तीन प्रकारका होता है--वाक्शौच (वाणीकी पवित्रता), कर्मशौच (क्रियाकी पवित्रता) तथा जलशौच (जलसे शरीरकी शुद्धि)। जो इस तीन प्रकारके शौचसे सम्पन्न है, वह स्वर्गलोकका अधिकारी है, इसमें संशय नहीं
mārkaṇḍeya uvāca—vāk-śaucaṁ karma-śaucaṁ ca yac ca śaucaṁ jalātmakam | tribhiḥ śaucair upeto yaḥ sa svargī nātra saṁśayaḥ ||
Markandeya said: “O King, purity is of three kinds—purity of speech, purity of action, and the bodily purity that is effected through water. Whoever is endowed with these three purities becomes fit for heaven; of this there is no doubt.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that true purity is threefold: disciplined and truthful speech (vāk-śauca), righteous and clean conduct in actions (karma-śauca), and physical cleanliness maintained through water (jala-śauca). Possessing all three is presented as a complete ethical-spiritual qualification leading to heavenly merit.
In Yudhiṣṭhira’s conversation with the sage Mārkaṇḍeya in the Vana Parva, the sage instructs the king on dharma by defining ‘śauca’ (purity) and its practical forms, linking inner moral discipline with outward cleanliness and describing its फल (result) as attainment of Svarga.