Shloka 50
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
सब लोग पृथ्वीपर ही जन्म लेते और पृथ्वीमें ही लीन हो जाते हैं। अण्डज, जरायुज, स्वेदज और उद्धिज्ज--इन चारों प्रकारके प्राणियोंका शरीर पृथ्वीका ही कार्य है ।।
sarve lokāḥ pṛthivyām eva janma labhante pṛthivyām eva ca līyante | aṇḍajā jarāyujāḥ svedajā uddbhijjaś ceti caturvidhānāṃ prāṇināṃ śarīraṃ pṛthivyā eva kāryam || eṣā mātā pitā caiva jagataḥ pṛthivīpate | nānyayā sadṛśaṃ bhūtaṃ kiñcid asti janādhipa ||
Bhīṣma disse: Todos os seres nascem sobre a terra e, ao fim, nela se dissolvem e retornam. Os corpos das quatro espécies de viventes—os nascidos de ovos, do ventre, do suor e dos brotos—são todos moldados apenas da terra. Por isso, ó senhor da terra, esta Terra é verdadeiramente a mãe e o pai do mundo; ó governante dos homens, nada existe que se lhe compare.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches reverence for Earth as the universal source and final resting place of embodied life. Since all bodies arise from and return to earth, a king should protect the land and treat it as a parent—worthy of gratitude, restraint in exploitation, and righteous governance.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and royal duties. Here he emphasizes a cosmological-ethical point: all beings, across the traditional four modes of birth, are materially constituted from earth; thus Earth is praised as incomparable and parental to the world.