Shloka 29

कालनियमः शोकशमनं च

Kāla as Regulator; Pacification of Grief

Devanagari script

ये स्वधर्मादपेतेभ्य: प्रयच्छन्त्यल्पबुद्धय: । शतं वर्षाणि ते प्रेत्य पुरीषं भुज्जते जना:,“जो मन्दबुद्धि मानव अपने धर्मसे गिरे हुए मनुष्योंको धन देते हैं, वे मरनेके बाद सौ वर्षोंतक विष्ठा भोजन करते हैं

Transliteration

ye svadharmādapetebhyaḥ prayacchanty alpabuddhayaḥ | śataṃ varṣāṇi te pretya purīṣaṃ bhuñjate janāḥ ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「分別の乏しい者が、自らのダルマを踏み外した人々に財や扶助を与えるなら、死後、百年にわたり穢物を食らうと説かれる。」この偈は、布施が不義の者へ向けられ、アダルマを支える糧となるとき、倫理的に汚れ、功徳ではなく苦しき報いを招くことを戒めている。

Word by Word

येwho (those who)

स्वधर्मात्from (their) own duty

अपेतेभ्यःto those fallen away (from it)

प्रयच्छन्तिgive, bestow

अल्पबुद्धयःof little understanding, foolish

शतम्a hundred

वर्षाणिyears

तेthey

प्रेत्यhaving died; after death

पुरीषम्excrement

भुञ्जतेeat, partake of

जनाःpeople, men

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity is not automatically meritorious; it must be guided by discernment and dharma. Supporting those who have abandoned righteous conduct is portrayed as enabling adharma, bringing severe posthumous suffering rather than spiritual merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral injunction within the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, emphasizing standards for righteous giving and warning of karmic consequences when gifts are misdirected toward the dharma-fallen.