Shloka 10
Bhūmi-dāna, Satya-dharma, and the Non-cancellation of Sin by Charity
वरमेकाप्यपहृता न तु दत्तं गवां शतम् / एकां हृत्वा शतं दत्त्वा न तेन समता भवेत्
varamekāpyapahṛtā na tu dattaṃ gavāṃ śatam / ekāṃ hṛtvā śataṃ dattvā na tena samatā bhavet
ഒരു പശുവും അപഹരിക്കാതിരിക്കുക—ഇതാണ് നൂറു പശുക്കൾ ദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നതിലും ശ്രേഷ്ഠം. ഒന്ന് മോഷ്ടിച്ച് നൂറു ദാനം ചെയ്താലും അതുകൊണ്ട് സമത്വം വരികയില്ല (പാപം മായുകയില്ല).
Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda)
Concept: Papa from theft is not neutralized by later charity; non-commission of sin outweighs compensatory giving.
Vedantic Theme: Purity of intention (śuddha-saṅkalpa) and non-appropriation (asteya) as prerequisites for sattvic dāna.
Application: Do not justify unethical gain by philanthropy; prioritize clean earning and restitution; practice honest charity from rightful means.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Related Themes: Garuda Purana dharma-nīti: condemnation of theft and hypocrisy in dāna; Garuda Purana: emphasis that karma is not a simple ledger when intent and harm persist
FAQs
This verse states that charity does not become a “substitute payment” for wrongdoing; moral purity begins with not committing theft, and only then does giving carry dharmic merit.
No. It explicitly says that stealing even one cow and then donating a hundred does not create equivalence—sin is not automatically erased by later gifts without genuine righteousness.
Avoid unethical gain first (fraud, exploitation, theft); then practice honest giving—donations are meaningful when the livelihood and actions behind them are clean.