Mahabharata 3.201.126 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 126
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
ऋतुषु दशगुणं वदन्ति दत्तं शतगुणमृत्वयनादिदषु ध्रुवम् । भवति सहस्रगुणं दिनस्य राहो- विंषुवति चाक्षयमश्लुते फलम्
ṛtuṣu daśaguṇaṁ vadanti dattaṁ śataguṇam ṛtvayanādiṣu dhruvam | bhavati sahasraguṇaṁ dinasya rāho-viṣuvati cākṣayam aśnute phalam ||
مارکنڈیہ نے کہا— رِتو کے آغاز پر دیا ہوا دان دس گنا پُنّیہ دیتا ہے؛ اَیَن وغیرہ کی مقدس سنْدھیوں کے دن دیا ہوا دان یقینا سو گنا پھل دیتا ہے۔ راہو کے دن—یعنی گرہن کے دن—دیا ہوا دان ہزار گنا نتیجہ دیتا ہے؛ اور وِشُوَو یوگ میں دیا ہوا دان اَکشَی پھل عطا کرتا ہے۔
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the ethical power of dāna (charitable giving) is intensified when performed at cosmically significant times—seasons, solstices (ayana), eclipses (associated with Rāhu), and equinoxes (viṣuva)—with the equinox gift described as yielding inexhaustible (akṣaya) merit.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listeners on dharma by explaining traditional gradations of merit for gifts given on particular calendrical and astronomical occasions, emphasizing how timing (kāla) is understood to shape the fruit (phala) of righteous acts.
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