Shloka 28
Adhyāya 64: Dāna-prakāra—Suvarṇa, Pānīya-dāna, Ghṛta-dāna, and Upakaraṇa-dāna
Utility Gifts
यदि ते तादृशो राष्ट्रे विद्वान सीदेत् क्षुधा द्विज: । भ्रूणहत्यां च गच्छेथा: कृत्वा पापमिवोत्तमम्
yadi te tādṛśo rāṣṭre vidvān sīdet kṣudhā dvijaḥ | bhrūṇahatyāṃ ca gacchethāḥ kṛtvā pāpam ivottamam, rājan |
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “O Hari, kung sa iyong nasasakupan ang isang marunong na Brahmana na may gayong halaga ay manghina dahil sa gutom, mapapasan mo ang kasalanang tulad ng pagpatay sa sanggol sa sinapupunan; at ang mabigat na pagbagsak na dumarating sa gumagawa ng malaking krimen ay sasapit din sa iyo.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A king is morally accountable for the welfare of the virtuous and learned in his realm; allowing a deserving brahmin to suffer hunger is treated as a grave dereliction, equated here with the great sin of foeticide, implying severe spiritual and ethical consequences for negligent governance.
Bhishma is instructing the king on rajadharma in the Anushasana Parva, warning that failure to provide protection and sustenance to a worthy learned brahmin within the kingdom brings heavy sin and a disastrous fate, as though the king himself had committed a major crime.