Shloka 35
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
मामेवादत्त मां दत्त मां दत्त्वा मामवाप्स्थथ | अस्मिल्लॉँके परे चैव तद् दत्तं जायते पुन:,वह गाथा इस प्रकार है--(पृथ्वी कहती है--) “मुझे ही दानमें दो, मुझे ही ग्रहण करो। मुझे देकर ही मुझे पाओगे; क्योंकि मनुष्य इस लोकमें जो कुछ दान करता है, वही उसे इहलोक और परलोकमें भी प्राप्त होता है”
mām evādatta māṁ datta māṁ dattvā mām avāpsyatha | asmiṁl loke pare caiva tad dattaṁ jāyate punaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच— “मामेव दत्त, मामेव गृह्णीत; मां दत्त्वा मामवाप्स्यथ। अस्मिँल्लोके परे चैव यद् दत्तं तदेव पुनर्जायते।” (इति गाथायां पृथिवी दानधर्मं शिक्षयति— यदिह दत्तं तदेव परत्रापि स्वहितरूपेण प्रत्यावर्तते।)
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the reciprocity of dāna: what one gives does not vanish but returns as benefit and merit, yielding results both in this life and in the next. Giving ‘the Earth’ symbolizes offering what sustains all, and the assurance that righteous giving becomes one’s own gain through dharma and karma.
Bhishma, in his instruction on dharma, cites a traditional gāthā in which the Earth speaks. The Earth urges people to ‘give me’ and promises that by giving, one truly ‘obtains’—because gifts reappear as fruits of action across both worlds.