Shloka 81
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
इक्षुभि: संततां भूमिं यवगोधूमशालिनीम् । गो<श्ववाहनपूर्णा वा बाहुवीर्यादुपार्जिताम्
ikṣubhiḥ santatāṃ bhūmiṃ yavagodhumaśālinīm | go’śvavāhanapūrṇā vā bāhuvīryād upārjitām |
Bhīṣma disse: “Uma porção de terra—coberta de cana-de-açúcar, rica em cevada e trigo, ou repleta de gado, cavalos e veículos—quando um rei a conquista pela força de seus próprios braços e depois a doa em caridade, alcança mundos imperecíveis. Tal dádiva é chamada ‘sacrifício da terra’ (bhūmi-yajña), pois converte o fruto da conquista em oferenda justa, e não em mera posse.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that wealth gained through power—especially conquered territory—should be redirected into dharma through generous giving. Donating fertile, resource-rich land transforms political or martial gain into a sacrificial act (bhūmi-yajña) that yields enduring spiritual merit.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on gifts and righteous conduct, he describes exemplary land suitable for donation—productive with crops and wealth in livestock and transport—and states that a king who wins such land by valor and then donates it attains imperishable realms, with the act praised as a form of yajña.