Shloka 53

तीर्थवंशोपदेशः

Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters

Devanagari script

अकल्ककस्य विप्रस्य रौक्ष्यात्‌ करकृतात्मन: । वटवो यस्य भिक्षन्ति तेभ्यो दत्त महाफलम्‌

Transliteration

akalkakasya viprasya raukṣyāt karakṛtātmanaḥ | vaṭavo yasya bhikṣanti tebhyo dattaṃ mahāphalam ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: Khi một bà-la-môn không mưu trá, bị cảnh nghèo cùng cực làm cho chai sạn, vừa nhận được chút thức ăn trong tay thì những đứa con đói của ông liền nài xin: “Cho con, cho con”—bố thí cho vị bà-la-môn ấy và cho các con ông sẽ sinh phước quả lớn lao. Đó là lời dạy rằng bố thí càng thêm công đức khi hướng đến người vô tội và kẻ khốn cùng, không có gian trá hay lợi dụng.

Word by Word

• अकल्ककस्य: of the guileless/spotless (one)
• अकल्ककस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अकल्कक
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• विप्रस्य: of the brahmin
• विप्रस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• रौक्ष्यात्: from/owing to poverty (destitution)
• रौक्ष्यात्: Hetu
• Type: Noun
• Root: रौक्ष्य
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• करकृतात्मनः: whose self is made by (his) hands; one who lives by manual work
• करकृतात्मनः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: करकृतात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• वटवः: boys/children (students)
• वटवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वटु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यस्य: whose
• यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• भिक्षन्ति: beg (for alms)
• भिक्षन्ति: Kriya
• Type: Verb
• Root: भिक्ष्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• तेभ्यः: to them
• तेभ्यः: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Plural

• दत्तम्: given (gift/charity)
• दत्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• महाफलम्: great-fruited; yielding great result
• महाफलम्: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाफल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• a guileless poor brāhmaṇa (vipra)
• children/boys (vaṭavaḥ)
• food/alms (implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity directed to the truly needy—especially a guileless, impoverished brāhmaṇa and his hungry children—produces great merit; the recipient’s innocence and distress intensify the ethical value of the gift.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma is instructing on dharma of giving, describing a destitute brāhmaṇa whose children immediately beg for any food he obtains, and declaring that giving to such a household is supremely fruitful.