Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 89
पिबन्पितॄन् प्रीणयते खादनोल्लेखने सुरान् । गर्जन्नृषिमनुष्यांश्च धर्मरूपो हि धर्मज
pibanpitṝn prīṇayate khādanollekhane surān | garjannṛṣimanuṣyāṃśca dharmarūpo hi dharmaja
بشربه يُرضي الأسلاف؛ وبأكله وخدشه (للأرض) يُرضي الآلهة؛ وبزمجرته يُرضي الرِّشِيّين والبشر أيضًا—لأنه حقًّا الدارما متجسّدًا، يا ابن الدارما.
Unspecified in snippet (addressed to ‘Dharmaja’, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira-like epithet; exact interlocutors not given in input)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Dharmarāja’s son (Dharmaja) addressed in vocative; likely Yudhiṣṭhira in a broader frame, though not explicit in excerpt
Scene: A symbolic tableau: the dharmic bull/cow at a riverbank—drinking, grazing, scraping earth, bellowing—while subtle divine presences (Pitṛs, Devas, Ṛṣis, humans) receive satisfaction in their respective realms.
FAQs
It elevates the cow as a symbol of dharma whose very presence/actions are framed as benefiting ancestors, gods, sages, and society.
Revā-kṣetra is the textual milieu, but the verse primarily glorifies dharma through gau-māhātmya rather than a particular pilgrimage spot.
No direct prescription; it assigns spiritual ‘satisfaction’ effects to actions like drinking, eating, and bellowing.