Yudhishthira said People accept with respect the sayings of the Shrutis which say-This is to be given. This other thing is to be given! As regards kings, again, they make gifts of various things to various men. What, however, O grandfather is the best or foremost of all gifts?

Bhishma said Of all kinds of gifts, the gift of earth is said to be the first. earth is immovable and indestructible. It is capable of giving to him who possesses it all the best things upon which he may like to have.

It gives dresses and vestments, jewels and gems, animals, paddy, and barley. Amongst all creatures, the giver of earth grows rich for ever and ever.

As long as the earth lasts, so long does the giver thereof grow rich. There is no gift that is higher, O Yudhishthira, than the gift of earth.

we have heard that all men have given a little quantity of earth. All men have made gifts of earth, hence all men enjoy a little of earth.

Whether in this or in the next world, all creatures live subject to their own deeds. Earth is Prosperity's self. She is a powerful goddess. She makes him her lord who makes gifts of her in this life to her people.

That person, O best of kings, who gives away earth, which is indestructible, as gift, is born in next life as a man and becomes also a lord of Earth.

The quantity of one's enjoyment in this life is equal to one's gifts in a pristine life. This is the conclusion pointed out by the scriptures. For a Kshatriya should either give away the Earth in gift or renounce his life in battle.

This is the highest source of prosperity to Kshatriyas. We have heard that earth, when given away, cleanses and sanctifies the giver.

The man who is of sinful conduct who is guilty of Brahmanicide and of falsehood, is purified by a gift of earth. Indeed, such a gift rescues even such a sinner from all his sins.

The virtuous accept gifts of earth only and no other thing from sinful kings. Like one's mother, earth, when given away, purifies the giver and the taker.

This is an eternal and secret name of earth. viz., Priyadatta. Given away or accepted in gift, the name that is dear to her is Priyadatta.

The gift of earth is desirable. That king who makes a gift of earth to a learned Brahmana, gets from that gift a kingdom.

Upon being born again in this world, such a man, forsooth, attains to a position equal to that of a king. Hence, a king, as soon as he gets carth, should make gifts of earth to the Brahmanas.

None but a lord of Earth can make gifts of carth. Nor should one who is not a worthy person accept a gift of earth.

They who desire carth should act thus. That person who takes away earth belonging to a pious person never gets any earth.

By making gifts of earth to the righteous, one gets good carth. Of virtuous soul, such a giver acquires great fame both in this world and in the next.

That pious king about whom the Brahmanas say——We live on earth given to us by him, is such that his very enemies cannot utter the least reproach about his kingdom.

Whatever sins a man commits from want of the means of livelihood, are all washed off by gift of only so much earth as is covered by a cowhide.

Those kings who are mean in their acts or are of fierce deeds, should be taught that gift of earth is highly purifying and is at the same time the highest gift.

The ancients thought that there is always very little difference between the man who celebrates a Horse-Sacrifice and him who makes a gift of earth to one who is righteous.

The learned doubt the acquision of merit which all other pious acts yield. The only act about which they are dead certain, is the of earth which, indeed, is the foremost of all gifts.

The wise man who makes gifts of earth, gives away all these, viz, gold, silver cloth, gems and pearls and precious stones.

Penances, sacrifice, Vedic learning, good conduct, absence of cupidity, firmness in truth, adoration of elders, preceptors, and the deities, all these live in him who makes a gift of earth.

They who ascend to the region of Brahman by renouncing their lives in battle after having fought without any consideration for themselves for securing the behoof of their masters, even they are unable to go above the merit of those who make gifts of earth.

As the mother always nourishes her own child with milk from her breast, so does earth please with all the tastes the person that makes a gift of earth.

Mrityu, Vaikinkara, Danda, Tama, Fire, who is highly fierce, and all heinous and terrible sins are incapable of touching the person who makes a gift of earth.

That man of tranquil soul who makes a gift of earth pleases (by that act) the Departed Manes living in their region and the deities also hailing from the region that is theirs.

The man who makes a gift of earth to one who is weak and cheerless and destitute of the mcans of life and famishing with weakness, and who thereby supplies one with the means of sustenance, deserves the honour and merit of celebrating a sacrifice.

As an affectionate cow runs towards her half, with full udders dropping milk, similarly the highly blessed Earth, runs towards the person who makes a gift of earth.

That man who makes to a Brahmana a gift of earth which has been titled, or sown with seeds, or which contains standing crops, or a palace well furnished with every necessary article, succeeds in becoming the accomplisher of the wishes of everybody.

The man who makes a Brahmana having the means of life, possessing a domestic fire and of pure vows and practices, accept a gift of earth, never falls into any danger or distress.

As the moon increases day by day, so the merit of a gift of earth increases every time such earth produces crops.

Those persons conversant with ancient history sing this verse regarding the gift of earth. Heaving that verse Jamadagni's son (Rama) gave away the whole Earth to Kashyapa.

The verse to which I refer is this. Receive me in gift. Give me away. By giving me away, you (O giver) will obtain me again! That which is given away in this life is reacquired in the next.

That Brahmana who recites this great saying of the Vedas at the time of a Shraddha get the highest reward.

A gift of earth is a great expiation for the sin of those powerful men who perform Atharvan rites for injuring others. Indeed, by making a gift of earth one rescues ten generations of his paternal and maternal families.

That person who knows this Vedic saying about the merits of a gift of earth, succeeds in rescuing ten generations of both his paternal and maternal families. Earth is the original source of all creatures. It has been said that the god of fire is the presiding genius of earth.

After the coronation ceremony has been performed of a king, this Vedic saying should be recited to him, so that he may make gifts of earth and may never take away earth from a pious person.

Forsooth, the entire wealth owned by the king belongs to the Brahmanas. A king knowing well the science of duty and morality the first requisite of the kingdom's prosperity.

Those people whose king is unrighteous and atheistic in conduct and belief, can never be happy. Such people can never sleep or wake in peace.

On account of his deeds of wickedness his subjects become always filled with anxiety. Protection of what the subjects already have and new acquisitions by fair means are events that are not seen in the kingdom of such a king. Those people, again, who have a wise and righteous king, sleep happily and wake up in happiness.

By the blessed and righteous acts of such a king, his subjects, become shorn of anxiety. The subjects, restrained from wicked deeds, grow in prosperity through their own conduct. Capable of keeping what they have, they go on making new acquisitions.

That king who makes gifts of earth, is considered as wellborn. He is considered as a man. He is a friend. He is righteous in his acts. le is a giver. He is considered as possessing prowess.

Those men who make gifts of ample and fertile earth to Brahmanas knowing the Vedas, always shine in the world, on account of their energy, like so many suns.

As seeds scattered on the soil grow, and yield a goodly crop, so all one's wishes become successful on account of his making gifts of earth.

The Sun, Varuna, Vishnu, Brahmana, the Moon, the FireGod and the illustrious and tridentbearing Mahadeva, all praise the man who makes a gift of earth.

Living creatures originate from Earth and it is to the Earth that they return when they disappear. Living creatures which are divided into four classes have Earth for their primordial essence.

The Earth is both the mother and father of the universe of creatures, O king. There is no element, O king, that can compare with Earth.

About it is cited the old discourse between the celestial preceptor Brihaspati and Indra the kung of Heaven, O Yudhishthira.

Having worshipped Vishnu in a hundred sacrifices each of which was famous for plentiful gifts, Maghavat put this question to Brihaspati, that foremost of all orators.

Maghavat said O illustrious one, by what gift does one succeed in coming to the celestial region and acquiring beatitude? O foremost of speakers, do you tell me of that gift which yields high and eternal merit.

Bhishma said Thus addressed by the king of the celestials, the preceptor of the gods, viz., Brihaspati of great energy, said these words in reply to him of a hundred sacrifices.

Brihaspati said Gift of gold, gift of kine, and gift of earth, by these, O destroyer of Vritra, one becomes cleansed, O you of great wisdom, of all sins.

There is no gift, O king of the celestials, higher than the gift of earth, O powerful one. I consider this gift as the most superior, according to what has been declared by the wise.

Those heroes who, fearless of battle, give their lives in battle with enemies, come to Heaven. How high sover their end, none of them can get over the giver of earth.

Those men who, disregarding their bodies, give their lives in battle while working for the behoof of their masters, ascend to the region of Brahman himself. But even they are unable to get over the giver of earth.

By making a gift of earth one rescues these eleven, viz., five generations of ancestors and six generations of descendants.

That person, O Purandara, who makes a gift of earth rich with jewels and gems becomes purged off of all his sins and is highly respected in the celestial region.

If a person, O king, makes a gift of rich and fertile earth that is capable of granting every wish he succeeds in attaining to the position of a king of kings (in his next life). A gift of earth, therefore, is the foremost of all gifts.

That person, O Vasava, who makes a gift of earth capable of satisfying every wish with fruition is considered as making a gift of every object in the world,

That man who gives away a cow endued with every accomplishment and granting the fruition of every desire, succeeds O you of a thousand eyes, in attaining the celestial region.

The giver of earth, O king of the celestials, is pleased when he comes to Heaven by hundreds of rivers which run honey an i ghee and milk and curds,

A king, by making gifts of earth, is purged off of all his sins. There is no gift, therefore, which is superior to the gift of earth.

That king who gives away the Earth bounded by the ocean, after having conquered it with the help of his weapons, is talked of by all men and his memory lasts as long as the mountains last on the surface of Earth.

Gifted as he is with merits that belong to the gift of earth, the region of happiness reserved for the person who makes gift of such earth as is auspicious and rich with every taste, never become exhausted.

That king, O Shakra, who wishes to have prosperity and who wishes to acquire happiness for himself, should always make gifts of earth, with due rites, to worthy persons.

If after committing numerous sins a person makes gifts of carth to the twiceborn class, he leaves off all those sins like a snake casting off its slough.

The person who makes a gift of earth is said to make gifts of everything, that is, of seas and rivers and mountains and forests.

By making a gift of earth, the person is said to give away lakes and tanks and wells and rivers. On account of the moisture of earth, one is said to give away articles of various tastes by making a gift of earth.

The man who makes a gift of earth is considered as giving away herbs and plants possessed of high and efficacious virtues, trees adorned with flowers and fruit, charming forests, and hillocks.

The merit which a person acquires by making a gift of earth is incapable of being acquired by the performance of even such great sacrifices as the Agnishtoma and others with profuse gifts in the shape of Dakshina.

The giver of earth, it has been already said, rescues ten generations of both his paternal and maternal families. Likewise, by taking away earth that was given away, one sinks himself into hell and casts ten generations of both one's paternal and maternal lines into the same place of misery.

That man who having promised to make a gift of earth does not actually make it, or who having made a gift resumes it, has to pass a long time, in great misery on account of being tied with the noose of Varuna at the command of Death.

Those men have never to go to Yama who honour and adore those foremost of Brahmanas who pour libations every day on their domestic fire, who are always always engaged in the performance of sacrifices, who have scanty means of livelihood, and who receive with hospitality every guest seeking shelter in their houses.

The king, O Purandara, should free himself from the debt he owes to the Brahmanas and protect the helpless and the weak of the other castes.

The king should never resume, O chief of gods, earth that has been given away by another to a Brahmana. O king, of the celestials, who is destitute of the means of life.

The tears that would drop from the eyes of such cheerless and destitute Brahmaras on account of their lands being resumed, are capable of destroying the ancestors and descendants to the third generation of the resumer.

That man who reinstates a king driven away from his kingdom, gets residence in Heaven and is much honoured by the denizens thereof.

That king who succeeds in making gifts of earth with such crops standing thereon as sugarcane or barley or wheat, or with kine and horses and other draft cattle, earth that has been acquired with the might of the giver's arms, that has mineral in its bowels and that is covered with every kind of wealth on the surface, acquires unending regions of happiness in the next world, and such a king it is that is said to celebrate the earthsacrifice.

That king who makes a gift of earth is purged off of every sin and, therefore, is pure and liked by the righteous. In this world he is highly honoured and praised by all righteous men.

The merit of a gift of earth increases every time the earth given away bears crops for the benefit of the owner, as a drop of oil, falling upon water, is seen to extend on every side, and cover the watery surface.

Those heroic kings and ornaments of assemblies who give their lives in battle with faces towards the foe, attain, O Shakra, to the region of Brahman.

Beautiful ladies skilled in music and dancing and adorned with garlands of celestial flowers, approach, O king of the deities, the giver of earth as he comes to Heaven departing from the Earth.

That king who makes gifts of Earth with due rites to persons of the twiceborn order, sports in bliss in the celestial regions, worshipped all the while by the celestials and Gandharvas.

One hundred Apsaras, adorned with celestial garlands, approach, O king of the deities, the giver of earth as he ascends to the region of Brahman.

Sweetscented flowers, an excellent conch and excellent seat, an umbrella and excellent horses with good vehicles, are always ready for the person who makes gifts of earth.

By making gifts of earth a king can always command fragrant flowers and heaps of gold. Heaving all kinds of wealth, the commands of such a king can never be disobeyed anywhere and cries of victory welcome him wherever he may go.

The rewards of the gifts of earth consist of residence in the celestial region, O Purandara, and gold, and flowers, and plants and herbs of medicinal virtue, and Kusha and mineral wealth and verdant grass.

A person by making a gift of earth wins in his next lifenectargiving earth. There is no gift equal to a gift of earth. There is none worthy of greater respect than the mother. There is no duty higher than truth. There is no riches more valuable than that which is given away.

Bhishma said Hearing these words from the son of Angiras, Vasava made a gift to him of the whole Earth with all her jewels and gems and all her riches.

If these verses describing the merit of the gifts of earth be recited on the occasion of a Shraddha, neither Rakshasas nor Asuras can succeed in getting any share of the offering made in it.

Forsooth, the offerings one makes to the departed manes at such a Shraddha become unending. Hence on occasions of Shraddhas, the learned man should recite these verses on the subject of the merits of the gifts of earth, in the presence and hearing of the invited Brahmanas when engaged in eating.

I have thus, O chief of the Bharatas, described to you that gift which is the foremost of all gifts. What else do you wish to hear?