Shloka 21
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
अल्पान्तरमिदं शश्वत् पुराणा मेनिरे जना: । यो यजेताश्वमेधेन दद्याद् वा साधवे महीम्
alpāntaram idaṃ śaśvat purāṇā menire janāḥ | yo yajetāśvamedhena dadyād vā sādhave mahīm ||
Bhīṣma said: The ancients have always regarded this as a small matter: whether one performs an Aśvamedha sacrifice, or whether one gives land to a worthy and virtuous person.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights a traditional evaluation of merit: even celebrated public acts like the Aśvamedha and grand gifts of land are, in the eyes of the wise ancients, relatively small when compared with higher dharmic excellence—especially the quality of the recipient and the deeper virtues that make actions truly meritorious.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he cites the judgment of the ancients while discussing the relative worth of major ritual sacrifice and charitable giving, setting up a broader ethical hierarchy beyond mere external grandeur.