Shloka 10

अध्याय १३२ — कर्मणा मनसा वाचा: स्वर्गमार्गः तथा आयुर्विपाकः

Adhyāya 132 — The path to heaven through deed, mind, and speech; karmic results for lifespan

Devanagari script

गोब्राह्मणं न हिंस्याच्च पुष्कराणि च कीर्तयेत्‌ । एष श्रेष्ठतमो धर्म: सरहस्यो महाफल:

Transliteration

gobrāhmaṇaṁ na hiṁsyācca puṣkarāṇi ca kīrtayet | eṣa śreṣṭhatamo dharmaḥ sarahasyo mahāphalaḥ ||

Translation

Gārgya sprach: „Man soll weder Kühe noch Brāhmaṇas verletzen und regelmäßig die Namen der heiligen Stätten von Puṣkara rezitieren. Dies ist die höchste Form des Dharma—gelehrt mitsamt seiner inneren Begründung und seinem heiligen ‚Geheimnis‘—und sie trägt große geistige Frucht.“

Word by Word

• {'go-': 'cow

• cattle (a protected, revered being in dharmaśāstra ethics)', 'brāhmaṇa': 'a brāhmaṇa

• also a symbol of sacred learning and ritual order', 'na': 'not', 'hiṁsyāt': 'should harm/kill

• injure (optative of √hiṁs)', 'ca': 'and', 'puṣkarāṇi': 'the Puṣkara tīrthas/sacred sites (plural

• often understood as multiple Puṣkara holy places)', 'kīrtayet': 'should recite, praise, commemorate (optative of √kīrt)', 'eṣaḥ': 'this', 'śreṣṭhatamaḥ': 'the very best, most excellent (superlative)', 'dharmaḥ': 'righteous duty

• right conduct', 'sa-rahasyaḥ': 'together with its ‘rahasya’—inner meaning/secret teaching', 'mahā-phalaḥ': 'of great fruit

Speaker

गार्ग्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Gārgya
• go (cow)
• brāhmaṇa
• Puṣkara (tīrtha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse elevates non-violence toward protected beings (cows and brāhmaṇas) and devotional remembrance of a tīrtha (Puṣkara) as a supreme dharma that yields great spiritual merit, presented as a teaching with an inner, ‘secret’ rationale (rahasya).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Gārgya is delivering a concise rule of conduct: refrain from harming cows and brāhmaṇas and regularly commemorate the Puṣkara sacred places, declaring this practice to be an especially potent and authoritative dharma.