Shloka 12
Determination of the Householder’s Dharma
Dāna: Types, Recipients, Timing, and Fruits
यस्तु दद्यान्महीं भक्त्या ब्राह्मणायाहिताग्नये । स याति परमं स्थानं यत्र गत्वा न शोचति
yastu dadyānmahīṃ bhaktyā brāhmaṇāyāhitāgnaye | sa yāti paramaṃ sthānaṃ yatra gatvā na śocati
جو شخص عقیدت کے ساتھ مقدس آگیں قائم رکھنے والے برہمن کو زمین دان کرے، وہ اعلیٰ ترین مقام پاتا ہے؛ وہاں پہنچ کر پھر غم نہیں رہتا۔
Unspecified (narratorial/teaching voice within the Svarga-khaṇḍa context)
Concept: Devotional gifting of land to a qualified fire-maintaining brāhmaṇa leads to the sorrowless supreme state.
Application: Support genuine custodians of sacred learning/ritual (today: ethical patronage of Vedic study, temples, and dharmic institutions) with humility and devotion rather than display; prioritize long-term sustenance (land/resources) over one-time charity.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A serene donor offers a deed of fertile land at a yajña-śālā where an āhitāgni brāhmaṇa tends three sacred fires. Above them, a luminous pathway opens into a sorrowless celestial realm, suggesting the 'parama-sthāna' promised by the verse.","primary_figures":["āhitāgni brāhmaṇa with sacred fires","devotee-donor","Agni as subtle presence","Vishnu as distant, blessing radiance (implied)"],"setting":"Rural hermitage with yajña-vedi, kusa grass, ladles, and a boundary of newly gifted fields; distant horizon hinting at a celestial gate.","lighting_mood":"temple lamp-lit","color_palette":["saffron flame-orange","ash white","emerald green","warm gold","deep indigo"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: a dignified āhitāgni brāhmaṇa seated beside three blazing sacred fires on a jeweled yajña-vedi, receiving a land-gift from a kneeling devotee; Vishnu’s blessing aura in the upper register as a gold-leaf haloed presence; heavy gold leaf embellishment on flames, ornaments, and borders; rich reds and greens, gem-studded details, traditional South Indian iconography, ornate arch frame.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: a quiet hermitage scene with delicate brushwork—an āhitāgni brāhmaṇa near a small fire-altar, a devotee offering a land deed and handful of soil; lyrical naturalism with soft hills and fields, refined faces, cool mountain palette, thin ink outlines, a faint celestial opening in the sky.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: bold black outlines and natural pigments—central brāhmaṇa with sacred thread and calm eyes, stylized triple fires, donor in añjali; a symbolic golden gateway above indicating the sorrowless abode; temple-wall aesthetic with red/yellow/green dominance and rhythmic floral borders.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: devotional charity scene framed by lotus and creeper motifs; a serene Vishnu aura above, below a brāhmaṇa with sacred fires and a devotee offering land; intricate floral borders, deep blues and gold, peacocks at the margins, Nathdwara-inspired ornamentation adapted to a dāna-mahātmyā theme."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"devotional","suggested_raga":"Yaman","pace":"slow-meditative","voice_tone":"reverent-soft","sound_elements":["soft temple bells","crackling sacred fire","conch shell (distant)","evening silence"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: yastu = yaḥ + tu; dadyānmahīm = dadyāt + mahīm; brāhmaṇāyāhitāgnaye = brāhmaṇāya + āhitāgnaye.
FAQs
The verse praises mahī-dāna (donation of land), specifically when offered with devotion to a Brāhmaṇa who is an āhitāgni (a Vedic householder maintaining the sacred fires).
It explicitly states bhaktyā—devotion is the qualifying inner attitude that elevates the act of giving into a spiritually transformative deed leading to the “supreme abode.”
Support of disciplined spiritual practice (symbolized by the āhitāgni) through sincere generosity is presented as meritorious and uplifting, culminating in a state beyond sorrow.