Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31

Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share

Devanagari script

स्वकर्मभिर्मानवं संनिरुद्धं तीव्रान्धकारे नरके पतन्तम्‌ । महार्णवे नौरिव वायुयुक्ता दानं गवां तारयते परत्र

Transliteration

svakarmabhir mānavaṁ saṁniruddhaṁ tīvrāndhakāre narake patantam | mahārṇave naur iva vāyuyuktā dānaṁ gavāṁ tārayate paratra ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说：人被自身业行所困，正坠入极其黑暗的地狱；在彼世，唯有施牛之功德能使他渡过——正如大海之上的舟，得风相助，便能安然抵达彼岸。

Word by Word

• स्वकर्मभिः: by (his) own actions
• स्वकर्मभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वकर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• मानवम्: a man, human being
• मानवम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• संनिरुद्धम्: bound, restrained, confined
• संनिरुद्धम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संनिरुद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• तीव्रान्धकारे: in intense darkness
• तीव्रान्धकारे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीव्र-अन्धकार
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• नरके: in hell
• नरके: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• पतन्तम्: falling
• पतन्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: पतत्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• महार्णवे: in the great ocean
• महार्णवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा-अर्णव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• नौः: a boat
• नौः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नौ
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• वायुयुक्ता: provided with wind (as aid)
• वायुयुक्ता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वायु-युक्त
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• दानम्: the gift, giving (charity)
• दानम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• गवाम्: of cows
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Plural

• तारयते: causes to cross, delivers
• Type: Verb
• Root: तॄ
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada, Causative

• परत्र: in the other world, hereafter
• परत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परत्र

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• naraka (hell)
• mahārṇava (great ocean)
• nauḥ (boat)
• vāyu (wind)
• go-dāna (gift of cows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that charitable giving—specifically go-dāna (the gifting of cows), praised as a high form of dāna—can rescue a person from the dire consequences of their own karma, functioning as a means of deliverance in the afterlife.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana states a moral illustration: a man bound by his deeds is depicted as falling into a dark hell, and go-dāna is compared to a wind-driven boat that carries someone across the vast ocean—an image for being carried safely beyond suffering to the farther shore.