Mahabharata 3.201.123 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 123
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
जो जीविकाके लिये राँधा हुआ अन्नका दान करता है, वह स्वर्गलोकमें प्रतिष्ठित होता है। जो आश्रयकी खोज करनेवाले राहगीर-अतिथिको ठहरनेके लिये जगह दे वह सम्पूर्ण यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान पूर्ण कर लेता है ।।
yo jīvikāyai rāddham annasya dānaṃ karoti sa svargaloke pratiṣṭhito bhavati | ya āśrayasya khojane vartamānaṃ rāhagiṇam atithiṃ sthātum sthānaṃ dadāti sa sarvayajñānām anuṣṭhānaṃ pūrayati || pratisrotaḥ-śīrṇa-vāhāḥ parjanyo 'nnānusañcaran | mahādhuri yathā nāvā mahāpāpaiḥ pramucyate ||
Sinabi ni Mārkaṇḍeya: Ang sinumang nagkakaloob, para sa ikabubuhay, ng lutong pagkain bilang kawanggawa ay matatag na naitatatag sa langit. At ang sinumang nagbibigay ng matutuluyan sa manlalakbay na panauhing naghahanap ng masisilungan ay para na ring nakatapos ng lahat ng paghahandog na sakripisyo. Gaya ng bangkang mabigat ang karga na naihahatid pa rin pasulong kahit salungat sa agos, gayon din ang taong iyon ay napapalaya sa malalaking kasalanan—inaalalayan at itinutulak ng kabutihang dulot ng paggalang sa panauhin at pamimigay ng pagkain.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Feeding others with prepared food and giving shelter to a traveler-guest are presented as supreme acts of dharma: they yield heavenly merit, are equivalent to completing all sacrifices, and have the power to cleanse even grave sins.
Mārkaṇḍeya instructs the listener through ethical praise and a vivid simile: like a heavily loaded boat that can still move even against the current, the merit of hospitality and food-giving carries a person beyond obstacles and releases them from great wrongdoing.
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