Shloka 1
Rāma’s Abhiṣeka Plan, Kaikeyī’s Boon, and the Initiation of the Exile
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका $ “लोक मिलाकर कुल ३५३ “लोक हैं) ्ग््स “+(>9) #ट<-> #2६] षष्ट्यथिकद्वधिशततमो< ध्याय: दुर्वासाद्वारा महर्षि मुदूगलके दानधर्म एवं धैर्यकी परीक्षा तथा मुद्गलका देवदूतसे कुछ प्रश्न करना युधिषछ्िर उवाच ब्रीहिद्रोण: परित्यक्त: कथं तेन महात्मना । कस्मै दत्तश्न भगवन् विधिना केन चात्थ मे,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भगवन! महात्मा मुद्गलने एक द्रोण5 धानका दान कैसे और किस विधिसे किया था तथा वह दान किसको दिया गया था? यह सब मुझे बताइये
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
brīhidroṇaḥ parityaktaḥ kathaṁ tena mahātmanā |
kasmai dattaś ca bhagavan vidhinā kena cāttha me ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O revered one, how did that great-souled Mudgala give away the measure of rice he had set aside? To whom was it given, and by what proper procedure? Please tell me in detail.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dāna-dharma as not merely giving, but giving rightly: Yudhiṣṭhira asks both the recipient (kasmai) and the proper method (vidhinā). Ethical charity in the epic is evaluated by intention, procedure, and worthiness, not only by quantity.
At the start of the chapter, Yudhiṣṭhira requests details about Mudgala’s famed act of giving away a droṇa-measure of rice—how he relinquished it, to whom he donated it, and what ritual/ethical procedure he followed—setting up the account of Mudgala’s tested generosity and steadiness.