Shloka 15
Āśvamedhika-parva, Adhyāya 14
Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira; Rites and Gifts; Return to Hastināpura
महादानानि विप्रेभ्यो ददतामौर्ध्वदेहिकम् । भीष्मकर्णपुरोगाणां कुरूणां कुरुसत्तम
mahādānāni viprebhyo dadatām aurdhvadehikam | bhīṣma-karṇa-purogāṇāṁ kurūṇāṁ kurusattama
Wika ni Vaiśampāyana: “O pinakamainam sa mga Kuru, ang mga bayani ng Kuru—na pinangungunahan nina Bhīṣma at Karṇa—ay nagkakaloob ng malalaking kaloob sa mga brāhmaṇa, at isinasagawa ang mga ritwal at kawanggawang ukol sa mga yumao (mga tungkuling panglibing at pagkatapos ng kamatayan).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed through dāna and aurdhvadehika obligations: honoring the dead and sustaining the learned (brāhmaṇas) through prescribed gifts and rites, showing that social and spiritual duties continue even amid royal and martial life.
Vaiśampāyana describes the Kurus, with Bhīṣma and Karṇa as prominent figures, engaged in distributing major gifts to brāhmaṇas as part of rites and charitable acts connected with the departed—an image of formal, tradition-bound observance within the Kuru milieu.