Shloka 10
Bhūmi-dāna, Satya-dharma, and the Non-cancellation of Sin by Charity
वरमेकाप्यपहृता न तु दत्तं गवां शतम् / एकां हृत्वा शतं दत्त्वा न तेन समता भवेत्
varamekāpyapahṛtā na tu dattaṃ gavāṃ śatam / ekāṃ hṛtvā śataṃ dattvā na tena samatā bhavet
Better is it to have stolen not even a single cow than to have given away a hundred cows. If one steals one cow and then donates a hundred, there is no true equivalence by that (the sin is not cancelled).
Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda)
Concept: Papa from theft is not neutralized by later charity; non-commission of sin outweighs compensatory giving.
Vedantic Theme: Purity of intention (śuddha-saṅkalpa) and non-appropriation (asteya) as prerequisites for sattvic dāna.
Application: Do not justify unethical gain by philanthropy; prioritize clean earning and restitution; practice honest charity from rightful means.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Related Themes: Garuda Purana dharma-nīti: condemnation of theft and hypocrisy in dāna; Garuda Purana: emphasis that karma is not a simple ledger when intent and harm persist
FAQs
This verse states that charity does not become a “substitute payment” for wrongdoing; moral purity begins with not committing theft, and only then does giving carry dharmic merit.
No. It explicitly says that stealing even one cow and then donating a hundred does not create equivalence—sin is not automatically erased by later gifts without genuine righteousness.
Avoid unethical gain first (fraud, exploitation, theft); then practice honest giving—donations are meaningful when the livelihood and actions behind them are clean.