Mahabharata 3.201.128 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 128
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
अग्नेरपत्यं प्रथम सुवर्ण भूर्वैष्णवी सूर्यसुताश्च॒ गाव: । लोकास्त्रयस्तेन भवन्ति दत्ता यः काज्चनं गाश्न महीं च दद्यात्
agner apatyaṃ prathama suvarṇaṃ bhūr vaiṣṇavī sūryasutāś ca gāvaḥ | lokās trayas tena bhavanti dattā yaḥ kāñcanaṃ gāś ca mahīṃ ca dadyāt ||
مارکنڈیہ نے کہا—سونا آگ کی پہلی اولاد قرار دیا گیا ہے؛ زمین ویشنوَی (یعنی وِشنو کی نسبت والی) ہے، اور گائیں سورج کی بیٹیاں کہی گئی ہیں۔ اس لیے جو سونا، گائیں اور زمین دان کرتا ہے، گویا وہ تینوں لوکوں کا دان کرتا ہے۔
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates dāna (charitable giving) by linking gold, cows, and land to divine origins; giving these is portrayed as supremely meritorious—symbolically equivalent to granting the welfare of the three worlds.
Mārkaṇḍeya is instructing his listener on the religious-ethical value of gifts, using mythic genealogy (gold from Agni, earth as Vaiṣṇavī, cows as Sūrya’s daughters) to justify why donating these items is considered extraordinarily powerful.
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