Shloka 21
अहिंसयित्वा ब्रह्महत्याविधानम् / Brahmahatyā incurred without physical violence
तेभ्यो हिरण्यं रत्नं वा गामश्चं वा ददाति यः । दश वर्षाणि विष्ठां स भुड्क्ते निरयमास्थित:,ऐसे लोगोंको जो सुवर्ण, रत्न, गौ अथवा अश्व आदि वस्तुओंका दान करता है वह नरकमें पड़कर दस वर्षोंतक विष्ठा खाता है
tebhyo hiraṇyaṃ ratnaṃ vā gāṃś ca vā dadāti yaḥ | daśa varṣāṇi viṣṭhāṃ sa bhuṅkte nirayam āsthitaḥ ||
Dijo Bhishma: «Quien dé a tales hombres oro, joyas, vacas, caballos o bienes semejantes, cae en el infierno y durante diez años se ve obligado a sustentarse de inmundicia. Esta enseñanza advierte que la caridad no es sólo el acto de dar: debe guiarla el discernimiento sobre la conducta y la dignidad del receptor, para que la generosidad no se vuelva complicidad con el mal.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity (dāna) must be guided by dharmic discernment: giving valuable gifts to morally blameworthy or prohibited recipients is treated as a serious fault, bringing severe karmic consequences.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma in the Anushasana Parva, he warns about improper giving: a donor who supports ‘such people’ (as defined in the surrounding passage) is said to suffer in hell for ten years, symbolically ‘eating filth’ as retribution.