Shloka 81
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
इक्षुभि: संततां भूमिं यवगोधूमशालिनीम् । गो<श्ववाहनपूर्णा वा बाहुवीर्यादुपार्जिताम्
ikṣubhiḥ santatāṃ bhūmiṃ yavagodhumaśālinīm | go’śvavāhanapūrṇā vā bāhuvīryād upārjitām |
Bhīṣma dijo: «Un territorio—cubierto de caña de azúcar, rico en cebada y trigo, o colmado de ganado, caballos y vehículos—cuando un rey lo ha conquistado con la fuerza de sus propios brazos y luego lo entrega en caridad, alcanza mundos imperecederos. Tal don se llama ‘sacrificio de la tierra’ (bhūmi-yajña), pues convierte el fruto de la conquista en una ofrenda justa y no en mera posesión».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that wealth gained through power—especially conquered territory—should be redirected into dharma through generous giving. Donating fertile, resource-rich land transforms political or martial gain into a sacrificial act (bhūmi-yajña) that yields enduring spiritual merit.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on gifts and righteous conduct, he describes exemplary land suitable for donation—productive with crops and wealth in livestock and transport—and states that a king who wins such land by valor and then donates it attains imperishable realms, with the act praised as a form of yajña.