Shloka 50
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
देवता तेजस्वी, कांतिमान् और प्रकाश फैलानेवाले होते हैं और राक्षस अंधकारप्रिय होते हैं; इसलिये देवताओंकी प्रसन्नताके लिये दीपदान किया जाता है ।।
śukra uvāca: devatāḥ tejasvinaḥ kāntimantaḥ prakāśa-prasāriṇaś ca bhavanti, rākṣasāś ca andhakāra-priyāḥ; tasmād devatā-prasannatāyai dīpa-dānaṃ kriyate. āloka-dānāc cakṣuṣmān prabhā-yukto bhaven naraḥ. tān dattvā nopahiṃset na haret nopanāśayet.
Shukra said: The gods are radiant, possessed of splendor, and spread light, whereas the rākṣasas delight in darkness. Therefore, one offers the gift of lamps to please the gods. By giving light, a person gains clarity of sight and becomes endowed with radiance. Having donated those lamps, one should not injure them—one should neither extinguish them, nor remove them elsewhere, nor destroy them.
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Giving lamps (dīpa-dāna) is praised as a dharmic act aligned with the gods’ nature of radiance; it yields inner and outer clarity (symbolized as strengthened sight and personal brilliance). The gift must be respected: once offered, it should not be extinguished, reclaimed, or destroyed.
In a didactic passage of the Anuśāsana Parva, Śukra instructs on the merit and proper conduct of lamp-giving, contrasting the luminous disposition of the gods with the darkness-loving nature of rākṣasas, and prescribing how the donated lamps should be treated.