Shloka 67
Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda
Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity
न तेषां क्षीरपा: केचिज्जायन्ते कुलवर्धना: । प्रजाक्षयेण युज्यन्ते कुलवंशक्षयेण च
na teṣāṃ kṣīrapāḥ kecij jāyante kulavardhanāḥ | prajā-kṣayeṇa yujyante kula-vaṃśa-kṣayeṇa ca ||
Śakra said: “Those who drink milk by milking cows that still have young calves do not beget any children who will be ‘milk-drinkers’ in the proper sense—healthy offspring who sustain and increase the family line. Instead, they become afflicted with the loss of progeny, and their clan and lineage decline.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Exploiting a cow’s milk when her calf is still dependent—taking without due restraint and care—is treated as adharma; the text warns that such greed harms one’s own future through loss of progeny and decline of family lineage.
Śakra (Indra) delivers a moral warning: people who improperly consume milk taken from cows with young calves will not produce worthy offspring and will suffer prajā-kṣaya (loss of children) and kula-vaṃśa-kṣaya (decline of clan and lineage).