Mahabharata 3.201.68 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 68

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

Devanagari script

स्वागतेनाग्नयस्तृप्ता आसनेन शतक्रतुः । पितर: पादशौचेन अन्नाद्येन प्रजापति:

Transliteration

svāgatena agnayaḥ tṛptāḥ āsanena śatakratuḥ | pitaraḥ pādaśaucena annādyena prajāpatiḥ |

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Dengan menyambut seorang brāhmaṇa, api-api suci menjadi puas; dengan menawarkan tempat duduk, Indra (Śatakratu) menjadi puas; dengan membasuh kakinya, para Pitṛ (roh nenek moyang) menjadi puas; dan dengan menyediakan makanan yang layak dimakan, Prajāpati (Brahmā) menjadi puas.”

Word by Word

• स्वागतेन: by welcome/reception
• स्वागतेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वागत
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• अग्नयः: the fires (Agni-gods)
• अग्नयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तृप्ताः: satisfied
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तृप्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• आसनेन: by (offering) a seat
• आसनेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आसन
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• शतक्रतुः: Śatakratu (Indra)
• शतक्रतुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शतक्रतु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पितरः: the Pitṛs (manes/ancestors)
• पितरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पादशौचेन: by washing the feet
• पादशौचेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पादशौच
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• अन्नाद्येन: by food and the like (edibles)
• अन्नाद्येन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्नाद्य
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• प्रजापतिः: Prajāpati (Brahmā)
• प्रजापतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजापति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Agni (sacred fires)
• Indra (Śatakratu)
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Prajāpati (Brahmā)
• brāhmaṇa (implied recipient of hospitality)

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.