Shloka 31
स्वकर्मभिर्मानवं संनिरुद्धं तीव्रान्धकारे नरके पतन्तम् । महार्णवे नौरिव वायुयुक्ता दानं गवां तारयते परत्र,“जैसे महासागरके बीचमें पड़ी हुई नाव वायुका सहारा पाकर पार पहुँचा देती है, उसी प्रकार अपने कर्मोंसे बँधकर घोर अन्धकारमय नरकमें गिरते हुए मनुष्यको गोदान ही परलोकमें पार लगाता है
svakarmabhir mānavaṁ saṁniruddhaṁ tīvrāndhakāre narake patantam | mahārṇave naur iva vāyuyuktā dānaṁ gavāṁ tārayate paratra ||
Vaiśampāyana said: A man, hemmed in by his own deeds and falling into the hell of fierce darkness, is carried across in the world beyond by the gift of cows—just as a boat set upon the great ocean, aided by the wind, brings one safely to the far shore.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that charitable giving—specifically go-dāna (the gifting of cows), praised as a high form of dāna—can rescue a person from the dire consequences of their own karma, functioning as a means of deliverance in the afterlife.
Vaiśampāyana states a moral illustration: a man bound by his deeds is depicted as falling into a dark hell, and go-dāna is compared to a wind-driven boat that carries someone across the vast ocean—an image for being carried safely beyond suffering to the farther shore.