Mahabharata 3.201.87 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 87
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
नाध्यापनाद् याजनाद् वा अन्यस्माद् वा प्रतिग्रहात् | दोषो भवति विप्राणां ज्वलिताग्निसमा द्विजा:
nādhyāpanād yājanād vā anyasmād vā pratigrahāt | doṣo bhavati viprāṇāṁ jvalitāgnisamā dvijāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Para sa mga brāhmaṇa, walang dungis na moral na nagmumula sa pagtuturo, sa pamumuno sa mga paghahandog na yajña, o sa pagtanggap ng mga kaloob sa iba pang wastong paraan. Ang mga ‘dalawang-beses-isinilang’ na tapat sa kanilang mga ritwal ay tulad ng naglalagablab na apoy—maningning at naglilinis—kaya’t ang mga tungkuling ito para sa ikabubuhay ay hindi nakapapantsa sa kanila.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that a brāhmaṇa is not morally tainted by the traditional livelihood-duties of teaching, officiating sacrifices, and accepting appropriate gifts; when performed as dharma, these acts are purifying and legitimate.
Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a dharma-principle about brāhmaṇas, defending the propriety of their sanctioned occupations and comparing such disciplined twice-born men to blazing fire that remains pure while purifying others.
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