Shloka 3

छत्रोपानहदानफलप्रशंसा — Praise of the Merit of Donating Umbrella and Footwear

Devanagari script

बहुष्वपि निमित्तेषु पुण्यमाश्रित्य दीयते । एतद्‌ू विस्तरशो राजन्‌ श्रोतुमिच्छामि तत्त्वतः

Transliteration

bahuṣv api nimitteṣu puṇyam āśritya dīyate | etad ū vistaraśo rājan śrotum icchāmi tattvataḥ |

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Trong nhiều dịp và nhiều duyên cớ khác nhau, người ta đem cho những vật ấy với mục đích tạo phước (puṇya). Tâu Đại vương, con muốn được nghe việc này một cách tường tận, đúng như sự thật và đúng như bản chất của nó.”

Word by Word

• {'bahuṣu': 'in many (situations/instances)', 'api': 'also

• even', 'nimitteṣu': 'in occasions, causes, prompting circumstances', 'puṇyam': 'merit

• auspicious spiritual credit', 'āśritya': 'having resorted to

• taking as the basis/aim', 'dīyate': 'is given

• is bestowed (passive of √dā, ‘to give’)', 'etat': 'this (matter/teaching)', 'ū': 'indeed

• emphatic particle (often metrical/intonational)', 'vistaraśaḥ': 'in detail

• expansively', 'rājan': 'O King (vocative)', 'śrotum': 'to hear (infinitive of √śru)', 'icchāmi': 'I desire

• I wish', 'tattvataḥ': 'in truth

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• King (rājan, addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Meritorious giving (dāna) is not confined to a single ritual moment; it arises across many occasions (nimitta). The verse frames charity as an ethical practice oriented toward puṇya, and it emphasizes the need to understand the principles of giving accurately (tattvataḥ) and in detail (vistaraśaḥ).

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a kingly teacher (in this parva, typically Bhīṣma instructing him) and requests a detailed, truthful explanation of the various occasions and reasons for which people give gifts seeking merit.