Shloka 57
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
(ब्राह्माणार्थे गवार्थे वा राष्ट्रघातेडथ स्वामिन: । कुलस्त्रीणां परिभवे मृतास्ते भूमिदै: समा: ।।
bhīṣma uvāca |
brāhmaṇārthe gavārthe vā rāṣṭraghāte ’tha svāminaḥ |
kulastrīṇāṃ paribhave mṛtās te bhūmidaiḥ samāḥ ||
ye śūrā nihatā yuddhe svaryātā raṇagṛddhinaḥ |
sarve te vibudhaśreṣṭha nātikrāmanti bhūmidam ||
ビーシュマは言った。婆羅門を守るため、牛を守るため、国が滅亡の危機に瀕したときに国土を守るため、主君のために立ち、名門の婦人が辱められるのを防ぐため――そのために戦場で命を捨てる者は、土地を施す者と等しい功徳を得る。おお、賢者の中の最勝者よ。戦に斃れ、なお戦いに心を向けたすべての勇士は天に至り、施地者の得る果報に少しも劣らない。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma equates self-sacrifice in a righteous protective war—defending Brahmins, cows, the kingdom, one’s rightful lord, and the honor of respectable women—with the high religious merit of land-donation. The verse frames such death as dharmic and heaven-leading, emphasizing protection as a supreme duty.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he praises warriors who die while protecting key pillars of social and moral order, stating that their spiritual reward matches that of celebrated charitable acts like gifting land.