Shloka 233
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
प्रयच्छन्ति तु ये राजन् नोपसर्पन्ति ते समम् | इसलिये तुम सभी उपायोंसे अतिथियोंको भोजन देनेका प्रयत्न करो। राजन्! जो लोग अतिथिको चरण धोनेके लिये जल, पैरमें मलनेके लिये तेल, उजालेके लिये दीपक, भोजनके लिये अन्न तथा रहनेके लिये स्थान देते हैं, वे कभी यमराजके यहाँ नहीं जाते
prayacchanti tu ye rājan nopasarpanti te samam | (arthānusāreṇa) atithibhyo bhojanaṃ prayaccha; ye pādyaṃ tailaṃ dīpaṃ annaṃ nivāsaṃ ca dadati te kadācana yamarājasya gṛhaṃ na yānti ||
马尔甘德耶说道：“大王啊，能施与宾客者，其归宿不与不施者同。故当竭尽诸般方法，务使宾客得食。大王啊，凡为宾客供以洗足之水、涂足之油、照明之灯、充饥之食与栖身之所者，皆不至阎摩之界。”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches atithi-dharma: actively honor and care for guests through practical offerings—water, oil, light, food, and shelter. Such hospitality is presented as a powerful source of merit that protects one from Yama’s realm (i.e., from punitive afterlife consequences).
Sage Mārkaṇḍeya instructs a king on righteous conduct, emphasizing that those who give to guests are not equal to those who neglect them, and praising concrete acts of hospitality as spiritually protective.