Shloka 6
गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्
Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows
अप॒दहृृत्य तु यो गां वै ब्राह्मणाय प्रयच्छति । यावद् दानफलं तस्यास्तावन्निरयमृच्छति
apadahṛtya tu yo gāṃ vai brāhmaṇāya prayacchati | yāvad dānaphalaṃ tasyās tāvan nirayam ṛcchati ||
قال بهيشما: «إن سرق رجلٌ بقرةَ غيره ثم قدّم تلك البقرة نفسها هبةً لبرهمن، وجب عليه أن يعذَّب في الجحيم مدةً تساوي تمامًا المدة التي تقرّرها الشاسترا لدوام ثواب هبة البقرة.»
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
A gift has ethical value only when the means are righteous. Donating stolen property—here, a cow—does not produce merit; instead, the attempted merit is inverted into punishment, measured by the very duration attributed to the gift’s merit in śāstric reckoning.
Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha), in his instruction on dharma, warns about improper giving: if someone steals a cow and then presents it to a Brāhmaṇa as a pious donation, he incurs hell for the same span that would otherwise be associated with enjoying the merit of a genuine cow-gift.