Shloka 51

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

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

Devanagari script

पृथ्वीनाथ! नरेश्वर! यह पृथ्वी ही जगत्‌की माता और पिता है। इसके समान दूसरा कोई भूत नहीं है ।।

Transliteration

Pṛthvīnātha! Nareśvara! iyaṃ pṛthvī hi jagato mātā ca pitā ca. asyāḥ samaṃ dvitīyaṃ kiñcid bhūtaṃ na vidyate. atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṃ purātanam—Bṛhaspateś ca saṃvādam Indrasya ca, Yudhiṣṭhira.

Translation

ภีษมะกล่าวว่า—“ข้าแต่เจ้าแห่งปฐพี ข้าแต่พระราชา! แผ่นดินนี้เองคือมารดาและบิดาของโลก ไม่มีสรรพสิ่งใดเสมอเหมือนนาง ในเรื่องนี้ บัณฑิตทั้งหลายยกแบบอย่างจากตำนานโบราณ—คือเรื่องเล่าเก่าที่เป็นบทสนทนาระหว่างอินทร์กับพรหสปติ โอ้ ยุธิษฐิระ”

Word by Word

• {'pṛthvīnātha': 'lord of the earth

• king', 'nareśvara': 'lord of men

• sovereign', 'pṛthvī': 'the Earth', 'jagat': 'the world

• moving creation', 'mātā': 'mother', 'pitā': 'father', 'sama': 'equal

• comparable', 'dvitīya': 'a second

• another', 'bhūta': 'being

• creature', 'na vidyate': 'does not exist

• is not found', 'atra api': 'here too

• in this matter as well', 'udāharanti': 'they cite

• they adduce as an example', 'itihāsa': 'ancient narrative

• traditional account', 'purātana': 'ancient

• old', 'saṃvāda': 'dialogue

• discourse', 'Indra': 'Indra, king of the gods', 'Bṛhaspati': 'Bṛhaspati, preceptor of the gods', 'Yudhiṣṭhira': 'Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Pāṇḍu'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pṛthvī (Earth)
• Indra
• Bṛhaspati

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma elevates the Earth as the universal parent—worthy of reverence and protection—and implies that a king’s dharma includes guardianship of the land and its beings. He strengthens the point by appealing to an authoritative ancient example (the Indra–Bṛhaspati dialogue).

What is happening in the narrative?

Addressing Yudhiṣṭhira as the sovereign, Bhīṣma makes a doctrinal statement about the Earth’s unique status and then signals a transition: he will support his instruction by recounting an old itihāsa framed as a conversation between Indra and Bṛhaspati.