Shloka 58

दानफलप्रकरणम् — उपानहदानं, तिलदानं, भूमिदानं, गोदानं, अन्नदानं च

Gifts and Their Stated Results: Footwear, Sesame, Land, Cows, and Food

Devanagari script

विबुधश्रेष्ठ! मनमें युद्धके लिये उत्साह रखनेवाले जो शूरवीर रणभूमिमें मारे जाकर स्वर्गलोकमें जाते हैं, वे सब-के-सब भूमिदाताका उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकते ।।

Transliteration

bhartur niḥśreyase yuktās tyaktātmāno raṇe hatāḥ | brahmalokagatā muktā nātikrāmanti bhūmidam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：噢，智者之最！那些为其君主的至上福祉而奋身，舍离对肉身的执著，战死沙场者，得以脱离罪垢，往生梵天界（Brahmaloka）；然而即便如此，他们的功德也仍不胜过施地之人。

Word by Word

• भर्तुः: of the lord/master
• भर्तुः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• नि:श्रेयसे: for the highest good
• नि:श्रेयसे: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नि:श्रेयस
• Form: Neuter, Dative, Singular

• युक्ताः: engaged/devoted
• युक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• त्यक्तात्मानः: having abandoned the body (self-sacrificing)
• त्यक्तात्मानः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्यक्तात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• रणे: in battle
• रणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रण
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• हताः: slain
• हताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ब्रह्मलोकगताः: gone to Brahmaloka
• ब्रह्मलोकगताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ब्रह्मलोकगत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मुक्ताः: freed/liberated
• मुक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अतिक्रामन्ति: they overstep/surpass
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति-क्रम्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• भूमिदम्: the giver of land (land-donor)
• भूमिदम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमिद
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brahmaloka
• bhūmidā (land-donor)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the exalted merit of dying in battle for one’s lord’s highest welfare—leading to purification and Brahmaloka—does not exceed the religious merit attributed to donating land (bhūmidāna). The verse elevates dāna, especially land-gift, as a supreme dharmic act.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma continues his instruction on dharma and gifts, contrasting the heavenly reward of heroic self-sacrifice in war with the even greater, unsurpassed merit of the land-donor, thereby reinforcing the primacy of bhūmidāna within the discourse on charity.