Shloka 25
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
भर्त॒नि:श्रेयसे युक्तास्त्यक्तात्मानो रणे हता: । ब्रह्मलोकगता: सिद्धा नातिक्रामन्ति भूमिदम्,जो अपने स्वामीका भला करनेके लिये रणभूमिमें मारे जाकर शरीर त्याग देते हैं और जो सिद्ध होकर ब्रह्मलोकमें पहुँच जाते हैं, वे भी भूमिदान करनेवाले पुरुषको लाँधकर आगे नहीं बढ़ने पाते
bhartṛ-niḥśreyase yuktās tyaktātmāno raṇe hatāḥ | brahmalokagatāḥ siddhā nātikrāmanti bhūmidam ||
Bhīṣma said: Even those who, devoted to their master’s welfare, renounce their very lives and are slain on the battlefield—and even perfected beings who attain Brahmaloka—do not surpass the merit of a man who gives land in charity (bhūmidāna).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks bhūmidāna (donation of land) as an exceptionally powerful dharmic act: its merit is said to be so great that even heroic warriors who die for their lord’s welfare, and even siddhas who reach Brahmaloka, cannot surpass the land-donor’s spiritual reward.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on gifts and dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises the supremacy of certain forms of charity. Here he contrasts battlefield self-sacrifice and high celestial attainment with the merit of donating land, asserting the latter’s unsurpassed value.