Shloka 46
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
व्ययगुणमपि साधु कर्मणा संश्रयन्ते भवति मनुजलोकाद् देवलोको विशिष्ट: । बहुतरसुसमृद्ध्या मानुषाणां गृहाणि पितृवनभवनाभं दृश्यते चामराणाम्
vyayaguṇam api sādhu karmaṇā saṃśrayante bhavati manujalokād devaloko viśiṣṭaḥ | bahutarasusamṛddhyā mānuṣāṇāṃ gṛhāṇi pitṛvanabhavanābhaṃ dṛśyate cāmarāṇām ||
Bhishma said: Even if a good person has become poor through giving, the gods still resort to him because of his righteous deeds. Thus his home becomes, compared to the human world, like a superior heaven. But where there is no giving, even a house overflowing with great wealth appears to the gods as no better than a cremation-ground.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Giving (dāna) sanctifies a person and a household: even if charity leads to material loss, the merit of righteous action draws divine regard, making the home 'heaven-like'; wealth without generosity is spiritually barren, likened to a cremation-ground.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he contrasts two households: one of a virtuous giver who may have become poor yet is honored by the gods, and another rich household lacking charity that appears inauspicious and empty of merit.