Shloka 9

Gopradāna-phalasaṃprāpti: Nāciketa’s Vision of Vaivasvata’s Realms (गोप्रदानफलसम्प्राप्तिः — नाचिकेतोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

प्राणदानाद्धि परमं न दानमिह विद्यते । श्रुतं हि ते महाबाहो लोमशस्यापि तद्धबच:

Transliteration

prāṇadānād dhi paramaṁ na dānam iha vidyate | śrutaṁ hi te mahābāho lomaśasyāpi tad vacaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: “Quả thật, trong cõi đời này không có bố thí nào cao hơn bố thí sự sống. Vì khi một người ban thức ăn cho kẻ khác, ấy như đã ban cho người ấy chính hơi thở. Hỡi bậc dũng sĩ tay mạnh, con cũng đã nghe chính lời ấy từ hiền giả Lomaśa.”

Word by Word

• {'prāṇadānāt': 'from/than the giving of life (prāṇa = vital breath, life

• dāna = gift)', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'paramam': 'supreme, highest', 'na': 'not', 'dānam': 'gift, charity', 'iha': 'here, in this world', 'vidyate': 'is found, exists', 'śrutam': 'heard', 'te': 'by you, to you', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed (epithet of the listener, typically Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'lomaśasya': 'of Lomaśa (a sage)', 'api': 'also, even', 'tat': 'that', 'vacaḥ': 'speech, statement, saying'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Lomaśa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That sustaining another’s life is the highest form of charity; giving food is ethically equivalent to giving life itself, and thus surpasses other gifts.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, instructing the listener (addressed as ‘mahābāho’), emphasizes the supremacy of life-giving charity and supports his point by citing a remembered statement attributed to the sage Lomaśa.