Shloka 15

गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung

Devanagari script

वृषभ ये प्रयच्छन्ति श्रोत्रियाय परंतप । ऐश्वर्य तेडधिगच्छन्ति जायमाना: पुनः पुन:

Transliteration

vṛṣabhān ye prayacchanti śrotriyāya parantapa | aiśvaryaṃ te ’dhigacchanti jāyamānāḥ punaḥ punaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O Feindversenger! Wer einem śrotriya-Brahmanen, der die Veden kennt, einen Stier schenkt, erlangt Wohlstand. Und immer wieder, sooft er in der Welt geboren wird, hat er Anteil an großem herrschaftlichem Glück.“

Word by Word

• वृषभान्: bulls
• वृषभान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृषभ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• ये: who
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रयच्छन्ति: give, bestow
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + यम् (यच्छति)
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• श्रोत्रियाय: to a learned Vedic Brahmin (śrotriya)
• श्रोत्रियाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रोत्रिय
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• परंतप: O scorcher of foes
• Type: Noun
• Root: परंतप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ऐश्वर्यम्: prosperity, lordly wealth
• ऐश्वर्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऐश्वर्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अधिगच्छन्ति: attain, obtain
• Type: Verb
• Root: अधि + गम्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• जायमानाः: being born
• जायमानाः: Karta
• Type: Participle
• Root: जन् (जायते) → जायमान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Atmanepada (middle), Present (vartamāna)

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• पुनः: again (repeatedly)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Parantapa (epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Śrotriya brāhmaṇa
• Vṛṣabha (bull)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That dharmic giving—specifically gifting a bull to a qualified śrotriya Brahmin—produces lasting merit, resulting in prosperity and high fortune repeatedly across future births.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, especially the ethics and results of various gifts (dāna). Here he highlights the spiritual efficacy of cattle-gifts to learned Brahmins.