Shloka 58
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
विबुधश्रेष्ठ! मनमें युद्धके लिये उत्साह रखनेवाले जो शूरवीर रणभूमिमें मारे जाकर स्वर्गलोकमें जाते हैं, वे सब-के-सब भूमिदाताका उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकते ।।
bhartur niḥśreyase yuktās tyaktātmāno raṇe hatāḥ | brahmalokagatā muktā nātikrāmanti bhūmidam ||
قال بهيشما: يا أفضل الحكماء، إنّ الذين يقصدون خيرَ سيّدهم الأعلى، فينبذون التعلّق بالجسد ويُقتلون في المعركة، يتحرّرون من الخطيئة ويبلغون برهمالوكـا (Brahmaloka)؛ ومع ذلك فحتى هم لا يتجاوزون فضلَ واهبِ الأرض.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the exalted merit of dying in battle for one’s lord’s highest welfare—leading to purification and Brahmaloka—does not exceed the religious merit attributed to donating land (bhūmidāna). The verse elevates dāna, especially land-gift, as a supreme dharmic act.
Bhishma continues his instruction on dharma and gifts, contrasting the heavenly reward of heroic self-sacrifice in war with the even greater, unsurpassed merit of the land-donor, thereby reinforcing the primacy of bhūmidāna within the discourse on charity.