Shloka 34
Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share
“जो मनुष्य स्वाध्यायशील और सदाचारी ब्राह्मणको सर्वगुणसम्पन्न गृह और शय्या आदि गृहस्थीके सामान देता है, उसे उत्तर कुरुदेशमें निवास प्राप्त होता है ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca — yo manuṣyaḥ svādhyāyaśīlaḥ sadācāraś ca brāhmaṇaṃ sarvaguṇasampannaṃ gṛhaśayyādīni gṛhasthī-sāmāni dadāti, sa uttarakurudeśe nivāsaṃ prāpnoti. dhuryapradānena gavāṃ tathā vai lokān avāpnoti naro vasūnām. svargāya cāhus tu hiraṇyadānaṃ tato viśiṣṭaṃ kanakapradānam.
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Wer in Ehrfurcht einem gelehrten und rechtschaffenen Brāhmaṇa—der mit allen Tugenden ausgestattet ist—ein Haus, ein Bett und andere häusliche Notwendigkeiten bereitstellt, dem wird gesagt, er erlange Wohnsitz im Land Uttara-Kuru. Durch die Gabe von Zugochsen und Kühen erreicht man die Welten der Vasus. Die Gabe von Goldschmuck wird als zum Himmel führend verkündet, und die Gabe von reinem, wohl geläutertem Gold soll eine noch höhere Frucht gewähren.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage ranks forms of dāna (charitable giving) by their spiritual fruit: supporting a learned, virtuous Brāhmaṇa with essential household provisions yields exalted residence (Uttara-Kuru); gifting cattle and draught animals grants the Vasus’ realms; gifting gold leads to heaven, and gifting pure refined gold is praised as even more meritorious.
Within Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Vaiśampāyana continues a didactic enumeration of donations and their results, describing specific gifts (household support, cattle, gold) and the corresponding heavenly or ideal destinations they are believed to secure.