Shloka 69
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
अपि कृत्वा नर: पापं भूमिं दत्त्वा द्विजातये । समुत्सूजति तत् पापं जीर्णा त्वचमिवोरग:
api kṛtvā naraḥ pāpaṁ bhūmiṁ dattvā dvijātaye | samutsṛjati tat pāpaṁ jīrṇāṁ tvacam ivoragaḥ ||
ਮਨੁੱਖ ਪਾਪ ਕਰ ਬੈਠੇ ਤਾਂ ਵੀ ਜੇ ਉਹ ਦਵਿਜ (ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ) ਨੂੰ ਭੂਮੀ ਦਾਨ ਕਰ ਦੇਵੇ, ਤਾਂ ਉਹ ਉਸ ਪਾਪ ਨੂੰ ਇਉਂ ਤਿਆਗ ਦਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਸੱਪ ਪੁਰਾਣੀ ਕੈਂਚਲੀ ਉਤਾਰ ਦਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A sincere, dharmic gift of land to a qualified dvija is presented as a powerful means of expiation: it enables one to abandon accumulated sin as decisively as a snake sheds an old skin.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he explains to the listener that charitable giving—specifically bhūmidāna to a dvija—can cleanse prior wrongdoing, illustrated through the vivid image of a serpent discarding its worn skin.