Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 40 Shloka 1 - Mahabharata | Chinese | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 1

Vipulopākhyāna—Ruci-rakṣā and Śakra’s Māyā (विपुलोपाख्यानम्—रुचिरक्षणं शक्रमाया च)

Devanagari script

: सप्तत्रिशो5्ध्याय: दानपात्रकी परीक्षा युधिषछ्िर उवाच अपूर्वश्च भवेत्‌ पात्रमथवापि चिरोषित: । दूरादभ्यागतं चापि किं पात्र स्‍्थात्‌ पितामह

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: apūrvaś ca bhavet pātram athavāpi ciroṣitaḥ | dūrād abhyāgataṃ cāpi kiṃ pātraṃ syāt pitāmaha ||

Translation

由提施提罗说道：“祖父啊，何人当被视为受施之可器？是施者素未相识之人，还是久与同居之人，抑或自远方国土而来之客？此三者之中，谁才是真正最上之布施之器？”

Word by Word

अपूर्वःunprecedented/unknown (person)

चand

भवेत्might be / could be

पात्रम्a worthy recipient (vessel)

अथवाor else

अपिalso/even

चिरोषितःone who has stayed long (long-resident)

दूरात्from afar

अभ्यागतम्arrived/come (as a visitor)

चand

अपिalso/even

किम्which?/what?

पात्रम्recipient (worthy person)

स्यात्should be / might be

पितामहO grandsire

Speaker

युधिषछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical inquiry central to dāna-dharma: how to discern a ‘pātra’ (worthy recipient). It highlights that worthiness is not automatically determined by familiarity, long association, or foreign arrival, but requires principled evaluation—setting up Bhīṣma’s guidance on criteria for righteous giving.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on gifts, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Pitāmaha’ and asks which type of person should be considered the best recipient of charity: a stranger, a long-time associate, or a traveler from far away.