Shloka 50
कुरुवंशप्रश्नः—दुःषन्तस्य राजधर्मवर्णनम्
Kuru Lineage Inquiry and the Portrait of King Duḥṣanta’s Rule
य इदं भारतं राजन् वाचकाय प्रयच्छति । तेन सर्वा मही दत्ता भवेत् सागरमेखला,राजन्! जो वाचकको यह महाभारत दान करता है, उसके द्वारा समुद्रसे घिरी हुई सम्पूर्ण पृथ्वीका दान सम्पन्न हो जाता है
ya idaṃ bhārataṃ rājan vācakāya prayacchati | tena sarvā mahī dattā bhavet sāgaramekhalā ||
ਹੇ ਰਾਜਨ! ਜੋ ਕੋਈ ਇਹ ਮਹਾਭਾਰਤ ਵਾਚਕ (ਜੋ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਕੇ ਵਿਆਖਿਆ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ) ਨੂੰ ਦਾਨ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਨੇ ਮਾਨੋ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ-ਘੇਰੀ ਸਾਰੀ ਧਰਤੀ ਦਾ ਦਾਨ ਕਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਹੋਵੇ।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Supporting the recitation and teaching of the Mahābhārata is extolled as an exceptionally great gift: giving the text to a qualified reciter is treated as equivalent in merit to donating the whole ocean-girdled earth, emphasizing the ethical value of preserving and transmitting dharma-knowledge.
Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and praises the act of gifting the Mahābhārata to a vācaka (public reader/expositor). The verse functions as a eulogy of the epic and of dāna connected with its dissemination.