Shloka 5

Adhyāya 138: Vāyu’s Exempla on Brāhmaṇa-Prabhāva and a Cosmological Clarification

Devanagari script

तासु चैव महापुण्यं शुश्रूषा च महाफलम्‌ । अहन्यहनि धर्मेण युज्यते वै गवाह्विक:

Transliteration

tāsu caiva mahāpuṇyaṃ śuśrūṣā ca mahāphalam | ahany ahani dharmeṇa yujyate vai gavāhvikaḥ ||

Translation

Service to those cows is itself a source of great merit and yields great spiritual fruit. The person who, day after day, feeds the cows in a righteous manner continually accrues great dharma.

Word by Word

• तासु: in/among those (cows)
• तासु: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• महापुण्यम्: great merit
• महापुण्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महापुण्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शुश्रूषा: service/attendance
• शुश्रूषा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुश्रूषा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महाफलम्: great fruit/result
• महाफलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाफल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अहन्यहनि: day by day / every day
• अहन्यहनि: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहन्

• धर्मेण: by/through righteousness; in a righteous way
• धर्मेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• युज्यते: is joined with / attains / is endowed with
• Type: Verb
• Root: युज्
• Form: Present, Atmanepada, Third, Singular, Passive/Reflexive (contextual)

• वै: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• गवाह्विकः: one connected with cows; a cowherd/keeper (lit. ‘cow-named’)
• गवाह्विकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गवाह्विक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

महेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Maheshvara (Śiva)
• cows (gāvaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Daily, righteous care and feeding of cows is presented as a sustained practice of dharma that generates great puṇya (merit) and yields significant spiritual benefit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Maheshvara (Śiva), speaking as an authority on dharma, praises the religious and ethical value of serving cows, emphasizing that consistent, day-by-day practice brings continual accumulation of dharma.