Mahabharata 3.201.59 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 59
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ये च दुष्कृतकर्माण: पूय॑ं तेषां विधीयते । एवं नदी महाराज सर्वकामप्रदा हि सा,महाराज! इस प्रकार वह नदी सम्पूर्ण कामनाओंको देनेवाली है; किंतु जो पापी जीव हैं उनके लिये उस नदीका जल पीब बन जाता है
ye ca duṣkṛtakarmāṇaḥ pūyaṃ teṣāṃ vidhīyate | evaṃ nadī mahārāja sarvakāmapradā hi sā ||
వైశంపాయనుడు పలికెను—దుష్కృతకర్ములు అయినవారికి అదే జలం పూయముగా (పిబగా) మారుతుంది. ఈ విధంగా, మహారాజా, ఆ నది సర్వకామప్రద; కాని పాపులకు అది అపవిత్రమై భయంకరమవుతుంది.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the fruit of an object or experience depends on one’s karma and moral condition: what is beneficent and wish-fulfilling for the righteous can become repulsive and harmful for the sinful. Ethical conduct shapes how the world is encountered and what it yields.
Vaiśampāyana continues a description to the king, explaining the extraordinary nature of a certain river: it is famed as a bestower of all desired things, yet for those burdened with evil deeds its water is transformed into pus—highlighting a moral differentiation in the river’s effects.
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