Shloka 11
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
अपि पापकृतां राज्ञां प्रतिगृह्लन्ति साधव: । पृथिवीं नान्यदिच्छन्ति पावनं जननी यथा
api pāpakṛtāṁ rājñāṁ pratigṛhṇanti sādhavaḥ | pṛthivīṁ nānyad icchanti pāvanaṁ jananī yathā ||
ビーシュマは言った。「罪をなす王からであっても、正しき者は土地の施しなら受け取ることができる。だが他のいかなる贈り物も受けたいとは思わない。大地は浄めの施物であり、母そのもののように清らかだからである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma distinguishes between gifts: land (pṛthivī) is uniquely purifying and may be accepted even from morally compromised rulers, whereas other gifts are to be avoided by the righteous. The verse elevates the earth as intrinsically sanctifying, comparable to a mother.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma and dāna, Bhīṣma advises on what kinds of gifts virtuous people may accept. He states that even if a king is sinful, the righteous may accept land from him, but they refrain from taking other possessions.