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.
Bhīṣma berkata: “Kinnara, Nāga, Rākṣasa, para dewa, Gandharva, manusia, dan himpunan para resi—semuanya berlindung pada pohon. Di dunia ini, pohon yang sarat bunga dan buah memuaskan serta menyara manusia; dan bagi orang yang menanam atau menghadiahkan sebatang pohon, pohon-pohon itu sendiri, laksana anak, menjadi penyelamatnya di alam kemudian.”
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.