Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 55
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
वाणिज्यं सत्पथस्थानमातिथ्यं प्रशमो दम: । विप्राणां स्वागतं त्यागो वैश्यधर्म: सनातन:
vāṇijyaṁ satpathasthānam ātithyaṁ praśamo damaḥ | viprāṇāṁ svāgataṁ tyāgo vaiśyadharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Śrī Maheśvara: “Kalakalang isinasagawa sa matuwid na landas, paggalang sa panauhin, katahimikan sa loob at pagpipigil sa sarili, paggalang at pagsalubong sa mga Brahmin, at pagkabukas-palad sa pamamagitan ng pagtalikod—ito ang walang-hanggang dharma ng Vaiśya.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the perennial ethical duties of the Vaiśya: earn through commerce without abandoning righteousness, practice hospitality, cultivate mental calm and sensory restraint, honor Brahmins, and practice generosity/renunciation.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Śrī Maheśvara is presented as teaching dharma; here he enumerates the characteristic obligations of the Vaiśya within the broader discourse on conduct and social duties.