Shloka 47
Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)
तरुणादित्यवर्णानि स्थावराणि चराणि च । अनेकशतभौमानि सान्तर्जलचराणि च
taruṇādityavarṇāni sthāvarāṇi carāṇi ca | anekaśatabhaumāni sāntarjalacarāṇi ca ||
അവയിൽ ചില ഭവനങ്ങൾ പ്രഭാതസൂര്യനെപ്പോലെ ചുവന്ന ദീപ്തിയോടെ തിളങ്ങുന്നു; ചിലത് സ്ഥിരം, ചിലത് വിമാനംപോലെ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നവ. അവയിൽ നൂറുകണക്കിന് മുറികളും നിലകളും ഉണ്ട്; ആ ഭവനങ്ങളുടെ ഉള്ളിൽ ജലചരങ്ങളോടുകൂടിയ ജലാശയങ്ങളും കാണപ്പെടുന്നു।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse evokes the splendor and abundance associated with higher realms attained through merit: radiant residences, mobile vimānas, and self-contained waterscapes. In the Anuśāsana context, such imagery supports Bhīṣma’s broader instruction that righteous conduct and generosity yield refined, orderly enjoyments rather than chaotic or harmful pleasures.
Bhīṣma is describing extraordinary dwellings—some stationary, some moving like vimānas—characterized by sunlike radiance, many levels, and interior reservoirs inhabited by aquatic life. The passage functions as a vivid catalog of the features of exalted abodes while he continues his didactic discourse.