Shloka 123
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
जो जीविकाके लिये राँधा हुआ अन्नका दान करता है, वह स्वर्गलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है। जो आश्रयकी खोज करनेवाले राहगीर-अतिथिको ठहरनेके लिये जगह दे वह सम्पूर्ण यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान पूर्ण कर लेता है ।। प्रतिस्रोतश्रित्रवाहा: पर्जन्योउन्नानुसंचरन् । महाधुरि यथा नावा महापापै: प्रमुच्यते
yo jīvikāyai rāddham annasya dānaṃ karoti sa svargaloke pratiṣṭhito bhavati | ya āśrayasya khojane vartamānaṃ rāhagiṇam atithiṃ sthātum sthānaṃ dadāti sa sarvayajñānām anuṣṭhānaṃ pūrayati || pratisrotaḥ-śīrṇa-vāhāḥ parjanyo 'nnānusañcaran | mahādhuri yathā nāvā mahāpāpaiḥ pramucyate ||
マールカンデーヤは言った。「生計のために、炊き上げた食を施す者は、天界に堅く据えられる。また、庇護を求める旅人の客に宿を与える者は、あらゆる供犠（ヤジュニャ）を成就したのと同じである。重荷を載せた舟が流れに逆らってもなお前へ運ばれるように、その者もまた、客をもてなし食を施す功徳に支えられ、大いなる罪から解き放たれる。」
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Feeding others with prepared food and giving shelter to a traveler-guest are presented as supreme acts of dharma: they yield heavenly merit, are equivalent to completing all sacrifices, and have the power to cleanse even grave sins.
Mārkaṇḍeya instructs the listener through ethical praise and a vivid simile: like a heavily loaded boat that can still move even against the current, the merit of hospitality and food-giving carries a person beyond obstacles and releases them from great wrongdoing.