Shloka 15
Āśvamedhika-parva, Adhyāya 14
Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira; Rites and Gifts; Return to Hastināpura
महादानानि विप्रेभ्यो ददतामौर्ध्वदेहिकम् । भीष्मकर्णपुरोगाणां कुरूणां कुरुसत्तम
mahādānāni viprebhyo dadatām aurdhvadehikam | bhīṣma-karṇa-purogāṇāṁ kurūṇāṁ kurusattama
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Oh, el mejor de los Kurus: los héroes de la estirpe Kuru—encabezados por Bhīṣma y Karṇa—otorgaban grandes dádivas a los brāhmanas, cumpliendo los ritos y las limosnas vinculados a los difuntos (deberes funerarios y posteriores a la muerte).»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed through dāna and aurdhvadehika obligations: honoring the dead and sustaining the learned (brāhmaṇas) through prescribed gifts and rites, showing that social and spiritual duties continue even amid royal and martial life.
Vaiśampāyana describes the Kurus, with Bhīṣma and Karṇa as prominent figures, engaged in distributing major gifts to brāhmaṇas as part of rites and charitable acts connected with the departed—an image of formal, tradition-bound observance within the Kuru milieu.