Shloka 61
दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च
Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत अनुशासनपर्वके अन्तर्गत दानधर्मपर्वमें एकसठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ
mahīṃ sphītāṃ dadad rājan sarvakāma-guṇānvitām | rājādhirājo bhavati taddhi dānam anuttamam ||
महीं स्फीतां ददद् राजन् सर्वकामगुणान्विताम् । राजाधिराजो भवति तद्धि दानमनुत्तमम् ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.