Shloka 39

Prāyaścitta-vidhāna: Tapas, Dāna, Vrata, and Proportional Expiation (प्रायश्चित्तविधानम्)

Devanagari script

“धर्मात्मा पुरुषको चाहिये कि वह यशके लोभसे

Transliteration

asamyak caiva yad dattam asamyak ca pratigrahaḥ | ubhayaṃ syād anarthāya dātur ādātur eva ca ||

Translation

വ്യാസൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ശരിയായ വിധിയിൽ നൽകാത്ത ദാനവും, ശരിയായ വിധിയിൽ സ്വീകരിക്കാത്ത പ്രതിഗ്രഹവും—ഇരണ്ടും ദാതാവിനും ഗ്രഹീതാവിനും അനർത്ഥകാരകമാകുന്നു।

Word by Word

• {'asamyak': 'not proper

• not according to right rule or correct method', 'ca': 'and', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatically', 'yad': 'whatever

• that which', 'dattam': "given

• bestowed (past passive participle of √dā, 'to give')", 'pratigrahaḥ': 'acceptance

• receiving (especially of gifts), also the act of taking', 'ubhayaṃ': 'both (the two: giving and receiving)', 'syāt': "would be

• becomes (optative of √as, 'to be')", 'anarthāya': 'for harm

• leading to undesirable consequence', 'dātuḥ': 'of the giver (genitive of dātṛ)', 'ādātuḥ': "of the receiver (genitive of ādātṛ, 'one who takes/receives')", 'eva ca': 'and indeed

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That charity (dāna) is ethically effective only when both sides follow proper dharmic standards: the gift must be given with correct intention and procedure, and it must be accepted in a proper manner. Otherwise, both giver and receiver incur harm rather than merit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Vyāsa delivers a normative teaching about dāna: he emphasizes that improper giving and improper acceptance are mutually damaging, reinforcing that moral outcomes depend on method and context, not merely on the act of transfer.