Shloka 51
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
जिस देशमें सदा धर्मपरायण, यज्ञ कराने और पढ़ानेके कार्यमें संलग्न सनातनधर्मी श्रोत्रिय ब्राह्मण ही सबसे पहले भोजन पाते हों, उस राष्ट्रमें अवश्य निवास करे ।।
svāhāsvadhāvaṣaṭkārā yatra samyaganūṣṭhitāḥ | ajasraṁ caiva vartante vaset tatra avicārayan ||
Wika ni Nārada: Dapat piliing manirahan sa lupain kung saan ang unang bahagi ng pagkain ay ibinibigay muna sa mga Brāhmaṇa na śrotriya—sanay sa Veda, tapat sa Sanātana-dharma, nakatuon sa dharma, at abala sa pagsasagawa ng yajña at pagtuturo. Kung saan ang mga ritwal na may panawagang svāhā (handog sa apoy), svadhā (handog sa mga ninuno), at ang sigaw na vaṣaṭ ay isinasagawa nang wasto at nagpapatuloy nang walang patid, doon dapat manirahan nang walang pag-aalinlangan.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Choose residence in a society where dharma is actively upheld through continuous, correctly performed Vedic and ancestral rites, and where learned, dharma-committed Brāhmaṇas are honored—symbolized by giving them the first share of food.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous living and social well-being, Nārada describes the marks of a dharmic land/kingdom and advises that one should live where sacrificial and śrāddha duties are properly maintained and the custodians of Vedic learning are duly respected.