Mahabharata 3.2.57 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 57
ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः
Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction
अग्निहोत्रमनड्वांश्व॒ ज्ञातयो5तिथिबान्धवा: । पुत्रा दाराश्च भृत्याश्व निर्दहेयुरपूजिता:
agnihotram anaḍvāṁś ca jñātayo ’tithibāndhavāḥ | putrā dārāś ca bhṛtyāś ca nirdaheyuḥ apūjitāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Se um chefe de família não honra o sagrado Agnihotra, nem os bois de tração, nem os parentes, hóspedes e familiares—e ainda negligencia seus filhos, sua esposa e seus servos—então, deixados sem respeito, eles podem queimá-lo com o fogo de sua ira. Assim, a falta de reverência devida no lar torna-se um perigo moral que consome a própria vida e reputação.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder must uphold dharma through daily sacred duty (Agnihotra) and through respectful care of dependents and social ties—guests, kin, family members, and servants. Neglecting them invites moral and social ruin, symbolized as being ‘burned’ by their anger.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating norms of gṛhastha-dharma: the household is sustained by ritual obligation and by honoring those who support and depend on it. He warns that disrespect toward these pillars of domestic life rebounds destructively upon the negligent householder.
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