Shloka 20

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

Devanagari script

प्रतिग्रहश्च वै देय: शृणु यस्य युधिष्ठिर । प्रदातारं तथा55त्मानं यस्तारयति शक्तिमान्‌,युधिष्ठिर! अब मैं तुम्हें यह बताता हूँ कि कैसे व्यक्तिको दान देना चाहिये। जो दाताको और अपने-आपको भी तारनेकी शक्ति रखता हो

Transliteration

pratigrahaś ca vai deyaḥ śṛṇu yasya yudhiṣṭhira | pradātāraṃ tathātmānaṃ yas tārayati śaktimān ||

Translation

யுதிஷ்டிரா, கேள்—தானத்தை ஏற்றுக்கொள்வதும் தர்மமே. தன் தானத்தால் தானம் செய்பவனையும், ஏற்றுக்கொள்வவனையும் இருவரையும் உயர்த்த வல்ல சக்தியுள்ள தானதாரரிடமிருந்தே ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

Word by Word

प्रतिग्रहःacceptance (of a gift)

चand

वैindeed

देयःto be given / should be given

शृणुhear (listen)

यस्यof whom / whose

युधिष्ठिरO Yudhiṣṭhira

प्रदातारम्the giver (donor)

तथाlikewise / also

आत्मानम्oneself

यःwho

तारयतिsaves / delivers / ferries across

शक्तिमान्powerful / capable

युधिष्ठिरO Yudhiṣṭhira

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That accepting gifts (pratigraha) is itself a dharmic act that must be regulated: one should accept only from a worthy and capable donor whose giving benefits both parties—bringing merit and uplift to the giver while supporting the recipient without moral compromise.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma in the forest-exile context, shifting from the ethics of giving to the ethics of receiving—who may be accepted from and why that discernment matters.