Mahabharata 3.201.41 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 41
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
धान्यं श्रमेणार्जितवित्तसंचितं विप्रे सुशीले च प्रयच्छते यः । वसुन्धरा तस्य भवेत् सुतुष्टा धारां वसूनां प्रतिमुज्चतीव
dhānyaṃ śrameṇārjitavittasañcitaṃ vipre suśīle ca prayacchate yaḥ | vasundharā tasya bhavet sutuṣṭā dhārāṃ vasūnāṃ pratimuñcatīva ||
ਮਾਰਕੰਡੇਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ਜੋ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਆਪਣੇ ਸ਼ਰਮ ਨਾਲ ਕਮਾਈ ਅਤੇ ਸੰਭਾਲੀ ਹੋਈ ਦੌਲਤ ਤੇ ਅਨਾਜ ਸੁਸ਼ੀਲ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਨੂੰ ਦਾਨ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਉੱਤੇ ਵਸੁੰਧਰਾ ਦੇਵੀ ਬਹੁਤ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਮਾਨੋ ਉਸ ਲਈ ਧਨ ਦੀ ਧਾਰ ਵਗਾ ਦਿੰਦੀ ਹੈ।
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is most fruitful when it is given from honestly earned, personally labored-for wealth, and directed to a worthy recipient (a virtuous brāhmaṇa). Such giving aligns with dharma and is portrayed as winning the favor of the Earth herself, resulting in prosperity.
Mārkaṇḍeya delivers a moral instruction: he praises the act of donating one’s hard-earned, stored grain and wealth to a well-conducted brāhmaṇa, describing it with a vivid image—Earth (Vasundharā) becomes pleased and seems to pour out a stream of riches in return.
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