Mahabharata 3.201.45 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 45

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

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उदाच सर्वगुह्मृतमं प्रश्न॑ पवित्रमृषिसंस्तुतम्‌ । कथयिष्यामि ते राजन्‌ धर्म्य धर्मभूतां वर

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | mārkaṇḍeya uvāca sarvaguhyatamaṃ praśnaṃ pavitram ṛṣisaṃstutam | kathayiṣyāmi te rājan dharmyaṃ dharmabhūtāṃ vara ||

Translation

मार्कंडेय म्हणाले—“राजन्, धर्मात्म्यांमध्ये श्रेष्ठ! तू असा प्रश्न विचारलास जो अत्यंत गुप्त, परम पवित्र, धर्मसंगत आणि ऋषींनीही स्तुत केलेला आहे. ऐक—मी तुला हा धर्म्य विषय सांगतो.”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'mārkaṇḍeya uvāca': 'Mārkaṇḍeya said', 'sarva-guhyatamam': 'most confidential of all

• deepest secret', 'praśnam': 'question

• inquiry', 'pavitram': 'purifying

• sacred', 'ṛṣi-saṃstutam': 'praised/commended by sages (ṛṣis)', 'kathayiṣyāmi': 'I shall narrate

• I will explain', 'te': 'to you', 'rājan': 'O king', 'dharmyam': 'in accordance with dharma

• righteous', 'dharmabhūtānām vara': 'best among those devoted to dharma (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the forthcoming instruction as a highly confidential yet purifying dharmic teaching, validated by the authority of the ṛṣis; it emphasizes that ethical knowledge can be both subtle (guhya) and universally revered.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva dialogue setting, Yudhiṣṭhira has posed a profound question; Mārkaṇḍeya responds by praising the question’s sanctity and then announces that he will explain the dharmic matter, with Vaiśampāyana reporting this exchange.