Shloka 16
Go-dāna-phala-nirdeśa
Merit and Destinations from the Gift of Cows
क्रोधो हन्ति हि यद् दानं तस्माद् दानातू परं दम: । अदृश्यानि महाराज स्थानान्ययुतशो दिवि
bhīṣma uvāca | krodho hanti hi yad dānaṃ tasmād dānāt paraṃ damaḥ | adṛśyāni mahārāja sthānāny ayutaśo divi | kāmayānā mahats thānaṃ tasmād dānāt paraṃ damaḥ ||
Bhishma dijo: La ira destruye el mérito que un don pudiera tener; por ello, el autocontrol (la fuerza para refrenar la ira y los sentidos) se tiene por más alto que el dar. Oh gran rey, en el cielo hay incontables moradas invisibles; los sabios y los seres divinos que anhelan el estado supremo parten de este mundo hacia esos ámbitos mediante la práctica del autocontrol. Así, el autocontrol es superior a la caridad.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift loses its spiritual fruit if it is accompanied by anger; therefore the discipline that restrains anger and the senses (dama) is ethically and spiritually superior to charity.
In Bhishma’s instruction to the king in the Anushasana Parva, he ranks virtues and explains that self-restraint leads to higher, even heavenly, attainments, whereas anger can nullify the merit of otherwise good acts like giving.