Shloka 26
Rāma’s Abhiṣeka Plan, Kaikeyī’s Boon, and the Initiation of the Exile
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account
श्रमेणोपार्जिति त्यक्तुं दुःखं शुद्धेन चेतसा । तत् सर्व भवता साधो यथावदुपपादितम्,'परिश्रमसे उपार्जित किये हुए धनका शुद्ध हृदयसे दान करना अत्यन्त दुष्कर है। परंतु श्रेष्ठ पुरुष! तुमने यह सब कुछ यथार्थरूपसे सिद्ध कर लिया है
śrameṇopārjitaṁ tyaktuṁ duḥkhaṁ śuddhena cetasā | tat sarvaṁ bhavatā sādho yathāvad upapāditam ||
Vyāsa said: “To give away what one has earned through hard labor is truly difficult, even for a mind that is pure. Yet, noble one, you have rightly demonstrated this in full—proving in practice that hard-won wealth can be relinquished in the spirit of righteousness.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the highest form of giving is relinquishing wealth earned through one’s own hard labor; such giving tests attachment and reveals genuine purity of intention. True dharma is shown not merely by words but by the difficult act of letting go.
Vyāsa addresses a virtuous person and commends them for having practically proven a moral point: that even though it is extremely hard to donate what one has earned with effort, they have done so properly and thereby established the teaching through action.