Shloka 37

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

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

Devanagari script

कृत्यानामधिशस्तानामरिष्टशमनं महत्‌ | प्रायश्षित्तं महीं दत्त्वा पुनात्युभयतो दश

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | kṛtyānām adhiśastānām ariṣṭaśamanaṁ mahat | prāyaścittaṁ mahīṁ dattvā punāty ubhayato daśa ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు చెప్పాడు— భయంకరమైన కృత్యాలు, విధ్వంసక కర్మల వల్ల కలిగే అనిష్టభయాన్ని శాంతింపజేయుటకు అత్యుత్తమ ఉపాయం భూమిదానరూప ప్రాయశ్చిత్తమే. భూమిని దానం చేయుట ద్వారా మనిషి తన ముందు-వెనుక పది తరాలను పవిత్రం చేస్తాడు.

Word by Word

• {'kṛtyānām': 'of kṛtyā—harmful magical rites/acts intended to injure', 'adhiśastānām': 'of those that are grievously condemned/heinous, severely censured', 'ariṣṭa': 'misfortune, impending danger, calamity', 'śamanaṁ': 'pacification, appeasement, calming', 'mahat': 'great, supreme', 'prāyaścittam': 'expiation, atonement, penance that removes sin/defilement', 'mahīm': 'the earth

• land (as property to be donated)', 'dattvā': 'having given, by giving', 'punāti': 'purifies, makes pure', 'ubhayataḥ': 'on both sides

• in both directions (past and future lineage)', 'daśa': 'ten (generations)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• mahī (land/earth as a gift)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that when one faces severe moral or ritual wrongdoing—especially harms associated with destructive, condemned acts—the most powerful expiation is bhūmi-dāna (donation of land), which is said to purify one’s lineage across ten generations, past and future.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma is advising on prāyaścitta (atonement). He identifies land-gift as a supreme remedy to calm calamity and cleanse the stain of grievous acts, emphasizing its far-reaching effect on family lineage.