Shloka 24
अल्पव्ययं महार्थ च प्रेत्य चैव सुखोदयम् । पानीयस्य गुणा दिव्या: प्रेतलोके विशेषत:
alpavyayaṁ mahārthaṁ ca pretya caiva sukhodayam | pānīyasya guṇā divyāḥ pretaloke viśeṣataḥ ||
Yama bersabda: “Dharma ini memerlukan belanja yang amat kecil, namun hasilnya besar; bahkan sesudah mati pun ia menumbuhkan kebahagiaan yang sejati. Sifat-sifat air itu bersifat ilahi, dan di alam para arwah sifat-sifat itu tampak dengan lebih nyata.”
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a modest act of dharma—here centered on providing water—can produce immense spiritual benefit, including happiness after death; water is portrayed as inherently sacred and especially efficacious for the welfare of beings in the preta-loka.
Yama, the lord of dharma and the dead, is explaining the fruit of a particular righteous practice: offering/providing water. He emphasizes its low material cost, high moral-spiritual return, and its special significance for the departed.