Shloka 80
यो गोशतं कनकश्ड्रमयं ददाति विप्राय वेदविदुषे च बहुश्रुताय । दिव्यां च भारतकथां कथयेच्च नित्यं तुल्यं फलं भवति तस्य च तस्य चैव
bhīṣma uvāca | yo gośataṁ kanakaśṛṅgamayaṁ dadāti viprāya vedaviduṣe ca bahuśrutāya | divyāṁ ca bhāratakathāṁ kathayec ca nityaṁ tulyaṁ phalaṁ bhavati tasya ca tasya caiva ||
Bhishma berkata: Orang yang menghadiahkan kepada seorang Brahmana yang mengetahui Weda dan luas ilmunya seratus ekor sapi dengan tanduk berlapis emas, dan orang yang setiap hari menyampaikan uraian kisah suci Mahabharata—keduanya memperoleh buah kebajikan yang sama.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse equates two sources of merit: lavish charitable giving to a truly learned Vedic Brahmin and the daily, faithful expounding of the sacred Mahabharata narrative. It emphasizes that preserving and transmitting dharmic teaching through regular discourse can be as spiritually efficacious as expensive ritual charity.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he praises both material generosity and the ongoing teaching of sacred tradition. He states that donating a hundred cows with gold-adorned horns to a learned Brahmin and daily narrating the divine Bhārata yield the same religious merit.