Shloka 61

दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च

Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत अनुशासनपर्वके अन्तर्गत दानधर्मपर्वमें एकसठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

mahīṃ sphītāṃ dadad rājan sarvakāma-guṇānvitām | rājādhirājo bhavati taddhi dānam anuttamam ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «О царь, тот, кто приносит в дар землю — цветущую и изобильную, наделённую всеми желанными достоинствами, — в следующем рождении становится царём царей; ибо этот дар провозглашён непревзойдённым».

Word by Word

• महीम्: the earth
• महीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• स्फीताम्: prosperous, abundant
• स्फीताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्फीत
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• ददत्: giving
• ददत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (दाने)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सर्वकामगुणान्विताम्: endowed with all desired qualities
• सर्वकामगुणान्विताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्वकामगुणान्वित
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• राजाधिराजः: emperor, king of kings
• राजाधिराजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजाधिराज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भवति: becomes
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (भवति)
• Form: Present, Indicative, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तत्: that
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• हि: indeed, for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• दानम्: gift, donation
• Type: Noun
• Root: दान
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अनुत्तमम्: unsurpassed, best
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira (implied by address 'rājan')
• mahī (earth/land/kingdom as the donated object)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the highest form of charity is the donation of a prosperous, well-endowed realm (land/earth). Such an act yields extraordinary karmic merit, leading the donor to attain imperial sovereignty in a future birth.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s discourse on dāna-dharma, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira about the relative greatness of gifts. Here he concludes by praising ‘gift of the earth/land’ as unsurpassed, stating its exalted fruit.