Shloka 14
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
अन्तर्हिताधितप्तानां यथाशक्ति बुभूषताम् । देवानामतिशक्त्यापि देयमेषां कृतादपि
antarhitādhitaptānāṁ yathāśakti bubhūṣatām | devānām atiśaktyāpi deyam eṣāṁ kṛtād api ||
Wika ni Vyāsa: “Sa mga Brahmin na dinurog ng karalitaan, na dahil sa hiya’y naglalakad na palihim at nagkukubli, at sa loob ay labis na pinahihirapan; at gayundin sa mga nagsisikap—ayon sa kanilang kaya—para sa pag-angat na espirituwal, dapat magbigay mula sa yamang marangal na kinita, hangga’t makakaya. Para sa mga Brahmin na karapat-dapat at kagalang-galang, walang bagay na dapat ituring na ‘hindi maibibigay’; tunay nga, kahit ang lubhang mahalaga ay maaaring ihandog sa isang tunay na karapat-dapat—ito ang hatol ng mga mararangal.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Give charity from one’s rightly earned wealth according to one’s capacity, especially to worthy and distressed Brahmins and to sincere seekers of spiritual uplift; for a truly deserving recipient, no gift is considered inherently ‘forbidden’ or ‘too great.’
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs on dāna-dharma: identifying recipients who suffer silently from poverty or who strive for higher good, and emphasizing that generosity should be proportionate to one’s means yet unrestricted in principle when the recipient is genuinely worthy.