Shloka 52
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
इष्टवा क्रतुशतेनाथ महता दक्षिणावता । मघवा वागििदां श्रेष्ठ पप्रच्छेदं बृहस्पतिम्
iṣṭvā kratuśatena atha mahatā dakṣiṇāvatā | maghavā vāgidāṁ śreṣṭhaṁ papracchedam bṛhaspatim ||
भीष्म बोले—इन्द्र ने महान् दक्षिणाओं से युक्त सौ यज्ञों का अनुष्ठान करके, वाणी-विदों में श्रेष्ठ बृहस्पति से इस प्रकार प्रश्न किया।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual achievement and power are not presented as self-sufficient; even Indra, after immense sacrificial merit, turns to a true teacher for ethical clarity. The verse highlights humility before wisdom and the primacy of right counsel in dharma.
Bhishma introduces a frame-story: Indra has completed a hundred richly endowed sacrifices and then approaches Bṛhaspati, the gods’ preceptor, to ask a specific question—setting up Bṛhaspati’s forthcoming instruction.