Shloka 4
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
यावद् भूमेरायुरिह तावद् भूमिद एधते । न भूमिदानादस्तीह परं किंचिद् युधिष्ठिर,युधिष्ठिर! इस जगत्में जबतक पृथ्वीकी आयु है, तबतक भूमिदान करनेवाला मनुष्य समृद्धिशाली रहकर सुख भोगता है। अतः यहाँ भूमिदानसे बढ़कर दूसरा कोई दान नहीं है
yāvad bhūmer āyur iha tāvad bhūmida edhate | na bhūmidānād astīha paraṁ kiñcid yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma said: “So long as the earth endures here, for that very long the giver of land prospers. O Yudhiṣṭhira, in this world there is no gift higher than the gift of land.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that gifting land is the highest form of charity because it sustains life and livelihood; its merit and the donor’s prosperity are said to endure as long as the earth itself endures.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma and gifts, Bhīṣma addresses King Yudhiṣṭhira and ranks forms of dāna, declaring bhūmidāna (gift of land) as unsurpassed.