Shloka 59
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
पज्च पूर्वा हि पुरुषा: षडन्ये वसुधां गता: । एकादश दददभूमिं परित्रातीह मानव:
pañca pūrvā hi puruṣāḥ ṣaḍ anye vasudhāṃ gatāḥ | ekādaśa dadad bhūmiṃ paritrāty iha mānavaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : Celui qui donne la terre en offrande devient le sauveur de sa lignée : il délivre cinq générations d’ancêtres et aussi six générations de descendants qui viendront sur la terre. Ainsi, par le don de la terre, il apporte bien-être et relèvement à onze générations au total.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Land-gift (bhūmi-dāna) is presented as a powerful dharmic act whose merit extends beyond the giver, benefiting and 'delivering' multiple generations of one’s lineage—five ancestors and six descendants, totaling eleven.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma and gifts (dāna) within Anushasana Parva, he explains the far-reaching spiritual and ethical fruit of donating land, emphasizing its intergenerational impact.