Shloka 28
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
प्रियो हि मे ब्राह्मणो याचमानो दद्यामहं वो<श्चवतरीसहस्रम् । एकैकश: सवृषा: सम्प्रसूता: सर्वेषां वै शीघ्रगा: श्वेतरोमा:,क्योंकि जो ब्राह्मण मुझसे याचना करता है, वह मुझे बहुत प्रिय लगता है। मैं आपलोगोंमेंसे प्रत्येकको एक हजार खच्चरियाँ देता हूँ तथा सभीको सफेद रोएँवाली शीघ्रगामिनी एवं ब्यायी हुई गौएँ साँडोंसहित देनेको उद्यत हूँ
bhīṣma uvāca | priyo hi me brāhmaṇo yācamāno dadyāmahaṃ vo ’śvatarī-sahasram | ekaikaśaḥ sa-vṛṣāḥ samprasūtāḥ sarveṣāṃ vai śīghragāḥ śvetaromāḥ |
Bhishma said: “A Brahmin who comes to me asking is truly dear to me. Therefore I am prepared to give each of you a thousand she-mules; and to all of you, I am ready to bestow swift-moving cows with white hair, each already calved, together with bulls.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dāna-dharma: a righteous person should regard a worthy supplicant—especially a Brahmin seeking alms—with respect and affection, and respond with generous, timely gifts. The ethical emphasis is on readiness to give and on giving valuable, life-sustaining wealth (cattle), not merely token offerings.
Bhishma, speaking as an authority on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, describes his disposition toward Brahmin supplicants and declares the scale and quality of gifts he is prepared to give—thousands of she-mules and swift, white-coated, already-calved cows along with bulls—illustrating exemplary generosity.