Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 101
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
रसानां चाथ बीजानां धान्यानां च युधिष्छिर । स्वयमुत्पाद्य दातार: पुरुषा: स्वर्गगामिन:,युधिष्ठिर! जो स्वयं ही पैदा करके रस, बीज और अन्नका दान करते हैं, वे पुरुष स्वर्गगामी होते हैं
rasānāṁ cātha bījānāṁ dhānyānāṁ ca yudhiṣṭhira | svayam utpādya dātāraḥ puruṣāḥ svargagāminaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô Yudhiṣṭhira, les hommes qui, d’abord, produisent par leur propre effort—des sucs et autres essences nourricières, des semences et des grains—puis les donnent en aumône, sont voués au ciel.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is especially meritorious when it is grounded in one’s own honest labor: producing essential sustenance (juices/essences, seeds, grains) and then giving it to others. Such self-earned giving is praised as a direct cause of heavenly merit.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, particularly the ethics of dāna. Here he highlights the spiritual fruit of donating basic agricultural necessities that one has personally cultivated or produced.