Shloka 15
मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा
Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher
तेभ्य एव हि यत् सर्व कृत्वा च विसृजाम्यहम् । तदासीन्मे शतगुणं सहस्रगुणमेव च
tebhya eva hi yat sarvaṁ kṛtvā ca visṛjāmy aham | tad āsīn me śataguṇaṁ sahasraguṇam eva ca ||
Bhīṣma said: “Whatever I do, I do it for them alone—and then I let it go without clinging. Yet that very act returned to me a hundredfold, even a thousandfold.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Act for the welfare of others and relinquish attachment to the act and its fruits; such selfless giving/letting-go yields multiplied spiritual and ethical benefit (puṇya), symbolized as ‘hundredfold’ and ‘thousandfold’ return.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is explaining to the listener that when he performed deeds for others and then released any claim over them, the resulting benefit to him was greatly amplified—illustrating the power of non-possessiveness and generosity.