Shloka 42
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
बलान्विता: शीलवयोपपन्ना: सर्वा: प्रशंसन्ते सुगन्धवत्य: । यथा हि गंगा सरितां वरिष्ठा तथार्जुनीनां कपिला वरिष्ठा
balānvitāḥ śīlavayopapannāḥ sarvāḥ praśaṃsante sugandhavatyaḥ | yathā hi gaṅgā saritāṃ variṣṭhā tathārjunīnāṃ kapilā variṣṭhā ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „All diese Kühe—mit Kraft begabt, von guter Art und in der Blüte der Jugend—werden als wohlriechend und vortrefflich gepriesen. Wie die Gaṅgā die erste unter den Flüssen ist, so ist Kapilā die erste unter den Arjunī-Kühen.“
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights standards of excellence in gifts and virtues: just as the Gaṅgā is held supreme among rivers, a superior cow (Kapilā among the Arjunī line) is praised as an ideal for righteous giving and merit-oriented conduct.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is describing and praising exemplary cows—strong, well-behaved, youthful, and even ‘fragrant’—and singles out Kapilā as the foremost among the Arjunī cows, using the Gaṅgā as a comparison for supremacy.