Shloka 30

गोप्रदान-माहात्म्ये गोलोक-प्रश्नः

Gopradāna-Māhātmya: Inquiry into Goloka

Devanagari script

यद्‌ वै ददाति वित्रेभ्यो ब्राह्मण: प्रतिगृह वै । उभयो: स्यात्‌ तदक्षय्यं दातुरादातुरेव च,जो ब्राह्मण किसी दातासे रत्नोंका दान लेकर स्वयं भी उसे ब्राह्मणोंको बाँट देता है तो उस दानके देने और लेनेवाले दोनोंको अक्षय पुण्य प्राप्त होता है

Transliteration

yad vai dadāti vitrebhyo brāhmaṇaḥ pratigṛhya vai | ubhayoḥ syāt tad akṣayyaṁ dātur ādātur eva ca ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「バラモンが施しを受け、その同じ財をさらに他のバラモンへ施すなら、その行いの功徳は両者にとって尽きることがない——最初の施主にも、受けて分かち与える者にも。これは、聖なる用のための布施は、貪りなく受け取り、ダルマの精神で渡してゆくとき、永く実り続けることを示す。」

Word by Word

यत्that which

वैindeed

ददातिgives

वित्तेभ्यःfrom wealth/possessions

ब्राह्मणःa Brahmin

प्रतिगृह्यhaving received

वैindeed

उभयोःof both (giver and receiver)

स्यात्would be / may be

तत्that

अक्षय्यम्imperishable, inexhaustible

दातुःof the giver

आदातुःof the receiver

एवcertainly, indeed

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Brahmin

gift/wealth (ratna implied in the Hindi gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity yields inexhaustible merit when a gift is accepted righteously and then shared onward; both the donor and the recipient who redistributes become beneficiaries of akṣayya (imperishable) punya.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he explains a rule of ethical giving: a Brahmin who receives a donation and passes it on to other Brahmins makes the merit of the original gift enduring for both giver and receiver.