Shloka 68

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

स्वागतेनाग्नयस्तृप्ता आसनेन शतक्रतुः । पितर: पादशौचेन अन्नाद्येन प्रजापति:,ब्राह्मणका स्वागत करनेसे अग्नि, उसे आसन देनेसे इन्द्र, उसके पैर धोनेसे पितर और उसको भोजनके योग्य अन्न प्रदान करनेसे ब्रह्माजी तृप्त होते हैं

Transliteration

svāgatena agnayaḥ tṛptāḥ āsanena śatakratuḥ | pitaraḥ pādaśaucena annādyena prajāpatiḥ |

Translation

യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ബ്രാഹ്മണനെ സ്വാഗതം ചെയ്താൽ പവിത്ര അഗ്നികൾ തൃപ്തരാകും; അവനു ആസനം നൽകിയാൽ ശതക്രതു ഇന്ദ്രൻ തൃപ്തനാകും; അവന്റെ പാദങ്ങൾ കഴുകിയാൽ പിതൃകൾ തൃപ്തരാകും; ഭക്ഷണയോഗ്യമായ അന്നം നൽകിയാൽ പ്രജാപതി (ബ്രഹ്മാ) തൃപ്തനാകും।

Word by Word

स्वागतेनby welcome/reception

अग्नयःthe fires (Agni-gods)

तृप्ताःsatisfied

आसनेनby (offering) a seat

शतक्रतुःŚatakratu (Indra)

पितरःthe Pitṛs (manes/ancestors)

पादशौचेनby washing the feet

अन्नाद्येनby food and the like (edibles)

प्रजापतिःPrajāpati (Brahmā)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Agni (sacred fires)

Indra (Śatakratu)

Pitṛs (ancestors)

Prajāpati (Brahmā)

brāhmaṇa (implied recipient of hospitality)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hospitality to a worthy guest—especially a brāhmaṇa—is itself a dharmic sacrifice: welcoming pleases the sacred fires, offering a seat pleases Indra, washing the feet pleases the ancestors, and feeding pleases Prajāpati/Brahmā. Small acts of reverence are presented as spiritually consequential.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating norms of proper reception (satkāra) for a brāhmaṇa/guest, mapping each element of guest-honoring—welcome, seat, foot-washing, and food—to the satisfaction of major divine and ancestral recipients, thereby reinforcing atithi-dharma within the Vana Parva discourse.