Shloka 22
Taḍāga-Phala and Vṛkṣāropaṇa
Merit of Ponds and Tree-Planting
महाबाहो! भरतनन्दन! जिसके पैर जल रहे हों ऐसे कठोर व्रतधारी स्नातक द्विजको जो जूते दान करता है, वह शरीर-त्यागके पश्चात् देववन्दित लोकोंमें जाता है और बड़ी प्रसन्नताके साथ गोलोकमें निवास करता है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | mahābāho bharatanandana yasya pādāḥ pradahyante tasmai kaṭhoravratadhāriṇe snātakāya dvijāya ya upānahau dadāti sa śarīratyāgāt paraṃ devavanditān lokān gacchati mahāprītisahito goloke nivāsam āpnoti || etat te bharataśreṣṭha mayā kārtsnyena kīrtitam | chatropānahadānasya phalaṃ bharatasattama ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô toi aux bras puissants, ô fils de Bharata, quiconque offre des chaussures à un dvija Snātaka—observant d’austères vœux—dont les pieds brûlent sous la chaleur et l’épreuve, après avoir quitté son corps atteint les mondes honorés par les dieux et, rempli d’une grande joie, demeure en Goloka. Ainsi, ô meilleur des Bharata, je t’ai exposé pleinement le fruit entier du don des ombrelles et des chaussures, ô le plus éminent des Bharata.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Relieving another’s immediate hardship through practical gifts—especially footwear (and umbrellas)—is praised as a high form of dāna, yielding great spiritual merit and auspicious posthumous destinations.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on gifts and their results, he concludes this segment by stating the full reward of donating umbrellas and footwear, highlighting the merit of giving shoes to an austere Snātaka whose feet are burning from hardship.