Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 55
Āloka-dāna (Dīpa-dāna), Sumanas–Dhūpa–Dīpa Phala: Manu–Suvarṇa and Śukra–Bali Exempla
बलिकर्मसु वक्ष्यामि गुणान् कर्मफलोदयान् | देवयक्षोरगनृणां भूतानामथ रक्षसाम्
balikarmasu vakṣyāmi guṇān karmaphalodayān | devayakṣoraganṝṇāṃ bhūtānām atha rakṣasām ||
ਸ਼ੁਕ੍ਰ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ—ਹੁਣ ਮੈਂ ਬਲੀ-ਕਰਮਾਂ ਦੇ ਗੁਣ ਅਤੇ ਕਰਮ-ਫਲ ਦੇ ਉਦਯ ਦਾ ਵਰਣਨ ਕਰਾਂਗਾ—ਦੇਵਤਿਆਂ, ਯਕਸ਼ਾਂ, ਨਾਗਾਂ, ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ, ਭੂਤਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਰਾਕਸ਼ਸਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬਲੀ ਅਰਪਣ ਕਰਨ ਨਾਲ ਜੋ ਲਾਭ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śukra introduces a dharmic principle: offerings (bali) made with proper intent and method generate specific merits and tangible results (karma-phala). The teaching frames ritual giving as ethically consequential—an ordered way of relating to diverse classes of beings and sustaining harmony.
Śukra begins a new explanatory section, announcing that he will enumerate the qualities and resulting benefits of bali-offerings directed to different recipients—divine beings, semi-divine spirits, serpents, humans, bhūtas, and rākṣasas—setting up a systematic discussion of ritual practice and its outcomes.