Shloka 18
Gavāṃ Māhātmya — Go-dāna, Yajña-ādhāra, and Goloka
Brahmā–Indra–Surabhi Itihāsa
सवत्सां पीवरीं दत्त्वा दृतिकण्ठामलंकृताम् | वैश्वदेवमसम्बाध॑ स्थान श्रेष्ठ प्रपद्यते
savatsāṁ pīvarīṁ dattvā dṛtikaṇṭhām alaṅkṛtām | vaiśvadevam asambādhaṁ sthānaṁ śreṣṭhaṁ prapadyate ||
যে ব্যক্তি সুপুষ্ট, বাছুরসহ গাভীকে গলাবন্ধ/গলঢাকনি দিয়ে সজ্জিত করে অলংকৃত অবস্থায় ব্রাহ্মণকে দান করে, সে নির্বিঘ্নে বিশ্বেদেবদের শ্রেষ্ঠ লোক লাভ করে।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dāna done with care and honor—here, gifting a healthy cow with her calf, properly adorned, to a brāhmaṇa—produces great puṇya and leads to an unobstructed attainment of an excellent heavenly realm (associated with the Viśvedevas).
In Vasiṣṭha’s instruction on gifts and their fruits, he specifies a particular form of cow-gift (a thriving cow with calf, adorned and fitted with a neck-piece) and states the spiritual result: reaching the superior, unhindered abode connected with the Viśvedevas.