Shloka 20
गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung
सादे चर्मणि भुञज्जीत निरीक्षेद् वारुणीं दिशम् । वाग्यत: सर्पिषा भूमौ गवां पुष्टिं सदाश्नुते
sārdre carmaṇi bhuñjīta nirīkṣed vāruṇīṃ diśam | vāgyataḥ sarpiṣā bhūmau gavāṃ puṣṭiṃ sadāśnute ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Man nehme seine Mahlzeit sitzend auf einer angefeuchteten Kuhhaut ein, dem Westen zugewandt. Schweigend soll man, auf dem Boden sitzend, Ghee zu sich nehmen. Durch diese Observanz werden Wohlstand und Nährkraft des Rindviehs fortwährend gefördert.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma prescribes a small, disciplined observance—sitting on a moistened cowhide, facing west, maintaining silence, and consuming ghee—as a dharmic act believed to support the continual nourishment and increase of cattle, emphasizing restraint and reverence toward cow-related sustenance.
Within Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, he gives Yudhiṣṭhira a specific rule-like practice (vidhi) connected with cattle welfare, describing the posture, direction, and restraint to be observed and the resulting benefit (cattle thriving).