Shloka 11
Viṣṇu-sahasranāma—Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Recitation (विष्णोर्नामसहस्रम्)
सिद्धचारणजुष्टानि सेवितानि महर्षिभि: । अभिषेक: समस्तेषां गवां शूड्रोदकस्य च,तीनों लोकोंमें सिद्ध, चारण और महर्षियोंसे सेवित जो कोई भी तीर्थ सुने जाते हैं, उन सबमें स्नान करनेसे जो फल मिलता है वही गायोंके सींगके जलसे अपने मस्तकको सींचनेसे प्राप्त होता है
siddhacāraṇajuṣṭāni sevitāni maharṣibhiḥ | abhiṣekaḥ samasteṣāṃ gavāṃ śūdro(d)akasya ca ||
Bhīṣma said: “Whatever sacred fords are renowned in the three worlds—haunted by Siddhas and Cāraṇas and frequented by great seers—the merit gained by bathing in all of them is obtained as well by sprinkling one’s head with the water that has washed a cow’s horns.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that honoring the cow—specifically by sprinkling one’s head with water associated with the cow (water that has washed the horns)—can yield the same spiritual merit as bathing at all famed tīrthas. It elevates simple, sincere dharmic acts over difficult or expansive ritual travel, stressing purity, reverence, and accessible righteousness.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is advising Yudhiṣṭhira about religious merit and sacred practices. Here he praises the sanctity connected with cows and presents a concise rite (abhiṣeka/sprinkling) as equivalent in fruit to widespread pilgrimage to tīrthas revered by Siddhas, Cāraṇas, and great seers.