Shloka 30
Bhūmi-dānasya Māhātmya
The Pre-eminence of Land-Gift
किन्नर, नाग, राक्षस, देवता, गन्धर्व, मनुष्य और ऋषियोंके समुदाय--ये सभी वृक्षोंका आश्रय लेते हैं ।।
Bhīṣma uvāca: kinnarā nāgā rākṣasā devatā gandharvā manuṣyā ṛṣīṇāṁ ca samūhāḥ—te sarve vṛkṣāṇām āśrayaṁ labhante. Puṣpitāḥ phalavantaś ca tṛpayantīha mānavān; vṛkṣadaṁ putravad vṛkṣās tārayanti paratra tu.
ພີສະມະກ່າວວ່າ: «ຄິນນະຣາ, ນາກ, ຣາກສະສາ, ເທວະດາ, ຄັນທະວະ, ມະນຸດ ແລະຫມູ່ລິສີ—ທຸກຜູ້ທຸກນາມລ້ວນພຶງພາຕົ້ນໄມ້. ໃນໂລກນີ້ ຕົ້ນໄມ້ທີ່ອຸດົມດ້ວຍດອກແລະໝາກ ຊ່ວຍໃຫ້ມະນຸດອິ່ມໃຈແລະດໍາລົງຊີວິດ; ແລະສໍາລັບຜູ້ທີ່ປູກຫຼືຖວາຍຕົ້ນໄມ້ ຕົ້ນໄມ້ນັ້ນຈະເປັນດັ່ງລູກ ເປັນຜູ້ຊ່ວຍຂ້າມພົ້ນໃນໂລກໜ້າ»។
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Trees are universal benefactors: they shelter all beings and nourish humans with flowers and fruits. Therefore, donating or planting trees is a high form of dāna that yields lasting merit, even becoming a source of ‘deliverance’ in the afterlife, metaphorically like sons who support and save a person.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and meritorious acts. Here he praises trees as shared refuge for many classes of beings and extols vṛkṣa-dāna (tree-giving/planting) as an ethically powerful deed with benefits in this life and the next.