Shloka 9
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
पुनाति दत्ता पृथिवी दातारमिति शुश्रुम,दानमें दी हुई पृथ्वी दाताको पवित्र कर देती है--यह हमने सुना है। कितना ही बड़ा पापाचारी, ब्रह्महत्यारा और असत्यवादी क्यों न हो, दानमें दी हुई पृथ्वी ही दाताके पापको धो बहा देती है और वही उसे सर्वथा पापमुक्त कर देती है
punāti dattā pṛthivī dātāram iti śuśruma | dānena dīyā pṛthivī dātāraṃ pavitraṃ karotīti | kito'pi mahān pāpācārī brahmahā ca asatyavādī vā bhavet, dānena dattā pṛthivī eva dātuḥ pāpaṃ dhāvayitvā sarvathā pāpamuktaṃ karoti |
Bhishma said: “We have heard that land, when given away in charity, purifies the giver. Even if a man is a great sinner—guilty of brahmin-slaying and addicted to falsehood—land bestowed as a gift washes away his sin and makes him completely free from wrongdoing.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the exceptional purificatory power attributed to dāna—specifically gifting land. It presents land-gift as a potent means of cleansing even grave moral faults, emphasizing generosity and relinquishment as central to dharma.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he cites received tradition (“we have heard”) to assert that donating land purifies the donor, even one burdened with severe sins such as brahmin-slaying and habitual falsehood.