क्षमा दानं क्षमा सत्यं क्षमा यज्ञश्च पुत्रिकाः।
क्षमा यशः क्षमा धर्मः क्षमया विष्ठितं जगत्॥
kṣamā dānaṁ kṣamā satyaṁ kṣamā yajñaś ca putrikāḥ
kṣamā yaśaḥ kṣamā dharmaḥ kṣamayā viṣṭhitaṁ jagat
kṣamā = forgiveness; dānam = is charity; kṣamā = forgiveness; satyam = is honesty; kṣamā = forgiveness; yajñaḥ ca = is the sacrificial performance and; putrikāḥ = O daughters; kṣamā = forgiveness; yaśaḥ = as fame; kṣamā = forgiveness; dharmaḥ = is performance of religious activities; kṣamayā = on forgiveness and tolerance; viṣṭhitam = is situated; jagat = the world of the moving and non-moving.
Forgiveness is charity. Forgiveness is honesty. Forgiveness is the sacrificial performance. O daughters! Forgiveness is fame. Forgiveness is performance of religious activities. The world of the moving and non-moving is situated on forgiveness and tolerance.
1 The result obtained through honesty or sacrificial performance or attainment of religious fame or performance of religious activities can be obtained through forgiveness and tolerance.
The king praises forgiveness and tolerance in this verse. “Forgiveness is charity” means that result which is obtained through charity can be obtained through forgiveness and tolerance. This should be understood with the rest of the verse.1 Dharmaḥ here indicates that the result of constructing lakes, gardens and so on can be attained by forgiveness and tolerance. The world of animate and inanimate beings is situated in relationship with earth through her tolerance.
NOTE. In Bhagavad-gītā 13.8-12, the Supreme Personality of Godhead outlines the process of cultivating spiritual knowledge. Kṣāntiḥ or tolerance is one of the twenty items in that process. In his purport to those verses, Śrīla Prabhupāda has defined tolerance thus: “Tolerance means that one should be practiced to bear insult and dishonor from others.”