Shloka 56
तीर्थवंशोपदेशः
Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters
अत्युक्रान्ताश्व धर्मेषु पाषण्डसमयेषु च । कृशप्राणा: कृशधनास्तेभ्यो दत्त महाफलम्
atyukrāntāśva dharmeṣu pāṣaṇḍa-samayeṣu ca | kṛśa-prāṇāḥ kṛśa-dhanās tebhyo dattaṃ mahā-phalam ||
ビーシュマは言った。邪説や偽りの宗教の道から遠ざかり、資財に乏しく、食を得られずに命の力さえ衰えた者たちに施す布施は、大いなる霊的果報をもたらす。教えは、施しは真に困窮し正しき者を支えるとき最も功徳となり、宗教を装う欺きに力を与えてはならぬ、ということである。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity bears the greatest merit when directed to the truly needy—those impoverished and weakened by lack of food—especially when they are not aligned with deceptive or heretical religious pretences. The verse emphasizes discernment in giving and prioritizing genuine suffering and integrity.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, including the ethics of dāna (giving). Here he highlights which recipients make a gift highly fruitful: the poor and hungry who remain distant from pāṣaṇḍa (religious imposture).