Shloka 87
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
भयात्पापात्तथा बाधादू दारिद्रयाद् व्याधिधर्षणात् । यत्कृते प्रतिमुच्यन्ते ते नरा: स्वर्गगामिन:
bhayāt pāpāt tathā bādhād dāridryād vyādhidharṣaṇāt | yatkṛte pratimucyante te narāḥ svargagāminaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Those men, through whose earnest effort others are released from fear, sin, affliction, poverty, and the torment caused by disease—such benefactors attain heaven.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One who actively frees others from major forms of suffering—fear, sin, affliction, poverty, and disease—earns great merit and is said to attain heaven. Dharma here is defined as practical beneficence, not merely personal purity.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he extols the spiritual fruit of helping others. The verse functions as a moral commendation of those whose efforts remove others’ hardships, linking social compassion with heavenly reward.