Mahabharata 3.201.16 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 16
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
युधिष्ठिरो महाराज पुन: पप्रच्छ तं॑ मुनिम् । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! महाभाग मार्कण्डेयजीके मुखसे राजर्षि इन्द्रद्युम्नको पुनः स्वर्गकी प्राप्तिका वृत्तान्त सुनकर राजा युधिष्ठिरने उन मुनीश्वरसे फिर प्रश्न किया
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yudhiṣṭhiro mahārāja punaḥ papraccha taṁ munim | śleṣmādibhir vyāptatanur mriyamāṇo vicetanaḥ | brāhmaṇā eva sampūjyāḥ puṇyaṁ svargam abhīpsatā |
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—جب مہاراج یُدھِشٹھِر نے بھگوان مارکنڈیہ کے مُنہ سے راجرشی اندرَدیومن کے دوبارہ سُوَرگ پانے کا حال سنا تو اس نے اس مُنی سے پھر پوچھا—“جس کا بدن بلغم وغیرہ اخلاط سے گھِر گیا ہو، جو مرنے کے قریب ہو اور بے ہوش ہو چکا ہو—اگر وہ پھر بھی پُنّیہ والے سُوَرگ لوک کی آرزو رکھتا ہو—تو کیا اسے برہمنوں کی پوری طرح تعظیم و پوجا کرنی چاہیے؟”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even at the end of life—when one is incapacitated—seeking a virtuous afterlife is connected with acts of dharma; here, the emphasized meritorious act is honoring Brāhmaṇas, presented as a potent means of accruing puṇya aimed at svarga.
After hearing from Mārkaṇḍeya the story of King Indradyumna’s renewed attainment of heaven, Yudhiṣṭhira continues the discussion by asking the sage about the proper dharmic course for a person who is dying and unconscious yet aspires to reach heaven.
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