मृतस्यैव तु यद्दानं परोक्षे तत्समं स्मृतम् । स्वहस्तेन ततो देयं मृते कः कस्य दास्यति । इति मत्वा महाराज स्वदत्तं स्यान्महाफलम्
mṛtasyaiva tu yaddānaṃ parokṣe tatsamaṃ smṛtam | svahastena tato deyaṃ mṛte kaḥ kasya dāsyati | iti matvā mahārāja svadattaṃ syānmahāphalam
Mais un don accompli pour celui qui est déjà mort, et fait en son absence, n’est tenu que pour un équivalent (d’une valeur limitée). Aussi faut-il donner de sa propre main : quand la mort survient, qui donnera à qui ? Sachant cela, ô grand roi, ce que l’on donne soi-même porte un grand fruit.
Narratorial/ritual-instruction voice addressing a king (mahārāja)
Tirtha: Revā-khaṇḍa dāna-mahātmya (general)
Type: kshetra
Listener: mahārāja / mahīpāla (king)
Scene: An elder donor giving with his own hands while time (as a shadow) approaches; in the background, a funeral scene shows the limitation of posthumous gifts; the foreground radiates merit from direct giving.
Do dharma now: personal, intentional giving while alive is exalted, whereas delayed or proxy charity is portrayed as spiritually weaker.
No single site is named; the verse is a dharma-teaching within the Revā Khaṇḍa’s Vaitaraṇī-dāna context.
Give with one’s own hand (svahasta) while alive; do not postpone charity to a time when one cannot act.