Shloka 5

छत्रोपानहदानफलप्रशंसा — Praise of the Merit of Donating Umbrella and Footwear

Devanagari script

यथा चाक्षय्यतां प्राप्तं पुण्यतां च यथा गतम्‌ | सर्वमेतदशेषेण प्रवक्ष्यामि नराधिप,नरेश्वर! इन दोनों वस्तुओंका दान किस तरह अक्षय होता है, तथा ये किस प्रकार पुण्यकी प्राप्ति करानेवाली मानी गयी हैं। इन सब बातोंका मैं पूर्णरूपसे वर्णन करूँगा

Transliteration

yathā cākṣayyatāṁ prāptaṁ puṇyatāṁ ca yathā gatam | sarvam etad aśeṣeṇa pravakṣyāmi narādhipa nara-īśvara ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O king, lord of men, I shall explain to you in full how a gift becomes imperishable and in what manner it leads to the attainment of merit. I will set forth all these points without omission.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'yathā', 'definition': 'how

• in what manner'}, {'term': 'akṣayyatā', 'definition': 'imperishability

• inexhaustible (lasting) nature (of merit or fruit)'}, {'term': 'prāptam', 'definition': 'obtained

• attained'}, {'term': 'puṇyatā', 'definition': 'merit

• state of being meritorious'}, {'term': 'gatam', 'definition': 'gone to

• come about'}, {'term': 'sarvam etat', 'definition': 'all this (entire subject under discussion)'}, {'term': 'aśeṣeṇa', 'definition': 'completely

• in full detail'}, {'term': 'pravakṣyāmi', 'definition': 'I shall explain

• I will expound'}, {'term': 'narādhipa', 'definition': 'king

• ruler of men'}, {'term': 'nareśvara (nara-īśvara)', 'definition': 'lord of men

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira (implied by narādhipa/nareśvara as the addressed king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma promises a complete explanation of how acts of giving can yield imperishable results (akṣayya-phala) and how such giving is understood to generate merit (puṇya). The emphasis is on the conditions and manner of donation that make its ethical and spiritual fruit enduring.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anushasana Parva’s instructional setting, Bhishma—lying on his bed of arrows—continues advising King Yudhishthira. Here he introduces the next portion of his discourse, stating that he will fully describe how certain gifts become inexhaustible in their reward and how they lead to merit.