Shloka 1
Adhyāya 9: Pratiśruta-Dāna
The Duty to Fulfill Promised Gifts
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके १६ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३०३ श्लोक हैं) भीस्न्म+ज (2) आसजमसना नवमो<्ध्याय: ब्राह्मणको देनेकी प्रतिज्ञा करके न देने तथा उसके धनका अपहरण करनेसे दोषकी प्राप्तिके विषयमें सियार और वानरके संवादका उल्लेख एवं ब्राह्मणोंको दान देनेकी महिमा युधिछिर उवाच ब्राह्मणानां तु ये लोका: प्रतिश्रुत्य पितामह । न प्रयच्छन्ति मोहात् ते के भवन्ति महाद्युते,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ महातेजस्वी पितामह! जो लोग ब्राह्मणोंको कुछ देनेकी प्रतिज्ञा करके फिर मोहवश नहीं देते जो दुरात्मा दानका संकल्प करके भी दान नहीं देते वे क्या होते हैं? यह धर्मका विषय मुझे यथार्थरूपसे बताइये
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | brāhmaṇānāṁ tu ye lokāḥ pratiśrutya pitāmaha | na prayacchanti mohāt te ke bhavanti mahādyute ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Grandfather, what becomes of those who, having promised a gift to the Brahmins, do not give it—deluded as they are? O greatly radiant one, tell me truly the consequence for such people who form the resolve to give yet fail to fulfill it.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A pledged gift (pratiśruti) carries moral weight: making a promise to give—especially in the context of dāna to brāhmaṇas—and then withholding it out of delusion is treated as a serious breach of dharma, inviting adverse karmic results.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma about the fate of people who promise gifts to brāhmaṇas but do not deliver them, setting up Bhīṣma’s ensuing ethical teaching on charity, vows, and their consequences.