Shloka 32

Nṛga-upākhyāna: Brāhmaṇa-sva and the Consequence of Misappropriated Gift-Cattle (कृकलास-रूपे नृगोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

न चोषरां न निर्दग्धां महीं दद्यात्‌ कथंचन

Transliteration

na coṣarāṃ na nirdagdhāṃ mahīṃ dadyāt kathaṃcana

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “One should never, under any circumstance, give away land that is saline and barren, nor land that has been burnt and rendered unproductive.”

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• उषराम्: barren, saline (land)
• उषराम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उषरा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• निर्दग्धाम्: burnt up, scorched
• निर्दग्धाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्दग्ध
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• महीम्: earth, land
• महीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दद्यात्: should give
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कथंचन: in any way; ever (at all)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथंचन

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• mahī (land/earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A gift must be genuinely beneficial and honest in intent; donating worthless or harmful land (saline or burnt) is not righteous charity but a breach of dāna-dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (especially rules of giving), he specifies what should not be donated, warning against offering land that cannot sustain life or livelihood.