Shloka 84
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
यथाप्सु पतित: शक्र तैलबिन्दुर्विसर्पति । तथा भूमिकृतं दानं सस्ये सस्ये विवर्धते
yathāpsu patitaḥ śakra tailabindur visarpatī | tathā bhūmikṛtaṃ dānaṃ sasye sasye vivardhate ||
قال بهيشما: «يا شَكْرَا (إندرا)! كما أنّ قطرةً واحدةً من الزيت إذا سقطت في الماء انتشرت في كل جهة، كذلك عطيةُ الأرض تظلّ تزداد قيمةً: فكلما نبت الزرع في تلك الأرض ازداد ثوابُ ذلك العطاء وقدرُه بقدر ما نبت.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A land-gift is uniquely enduring: its benefit and the donor’s merit do not remain fixed but expand over time, because every new harvest generated from that land continually amplifies the donation’s value and ethical significance.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma (the duty and principles of giving) within the Anuśāsana Parva, he addresses Śakra (Indra) and uses a vivid simile—oil spreading on water—to explain how the fruits of donating land keep spreading and increasing through successive harvests.