Shloka 38
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
पुनाति य इदं वेद वेदवादं तथैव च । प्रकृति: सर्वभूतानां भूमिर्वैश्वानरी मता
punāti ya idaṁ veda vedavādaṁ tathaiva ca | prakṛtiḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ bhūmir vaiśvānarī matā ||
Bhishma dit : Quiconque connaît véritablement cet enseignement—cette doctrine védique également—devient un purificateur. La Terre est tenue pour la source primordiale de tous les êtres, et elle est regardée comme « Vaiśvānara », placée sous la présidence du Feu universel, Agni. Ainsi, la connaissance de ce récit sacré est louée comme sanctifiante, reliant la pureté éthique au respect de la Terre, origine commune de la vie, et d’Agni, son gouverneur divin.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises sacred knowledge as a purifier and frames the Earth as the universal origin (prakṛti) of beings, with Vaiśvānara/Agni as its presiding divine principle—linking ethical purity to reverence for cosmic order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing on dharma and sacred merits; here he extols the sanctifying power of knowing a particular sacred teaching and states a cosmological identification of Earth with Vaiśvānara (universal fire) under Agni’s lordship.