Shloka 38
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
पुनाति य इदं वेद वेदवादं तथैव च । प्रकृति: सर्वभूतानां भूमिर्वैश्वानरी मता
punāti ya idaṁ veda vedavādaṁ tathaiva ca | prakṛtiḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ bhūmir vaiśvānarī matā ||
Bhishma berkata: Siapa yang sungguh mengetahui ajaran ini—yakni doktrin Weda ini pula—menjadi penyuci. Bumi adalah asal-mula (prakṛti) semua makhluk, dan dipandang sebagai ‘Vaiśvānari’, dengan Agni sebagai dewa penguasanya.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises sacred knowledge as a purifier and frames the Earth as the universal origin (prakṛti) of beings, with Vaiśvānara/Agni as its presiding divine principle—linking ethical purity to reverence for cosmic order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing on dharma and sacred merits; here he extols the sanctifying power of knowing a particular sacred teaching and states a cosmological identification of Earth with Vaiśvānara (universal fire) under Agni’s lordship.