Shloka 59
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
पज्च पूर्वा हि पुरुषा: षडन्ये वसुधां गता: । एकादश दददभूमिं परित्रातीह मानव:,इस जगत्में भूमिदान करनेवाला मनुष्य अपनी पाँच पीढ़ीतकके पूर्वजोंका और अन्य छः पीड़ियोंतक पृथ्वीपर आनेवाली संतानोंका--इस प्रकार कुल ग्यारह पीढ़ियोंका उद्धार कर देता है
pañca pūrvā hi puruṣāḥ ṣaḍ anye vasudhāṃ gatāḥ | ekādaśa dadad bhūmiṃ paritrāty iha mānavaḥ ||
Bhishma says: A person who gives land as a gift becomes a savior for his lineage—he delivers five generations of ancestors and also six generations of descendants who will come upon the earth. Thus, by the act of land-giving, he brings welfare and uplift to eleven generations in all.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Land-gift (bhūmi-dāna) is presented as a powerful dharmic act whose merit extends beyond the giver, benefiting and 'delivering' multiple generations of one’s lineage—five ancestors and six descendants, totaling eleven.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma and gifts (dāna) within Anushasana Parva, he explains the far-reaching spiritual and ethical fruit of donating land, emphasizing its intergenerational impact.