Shloka 9
Go-apahāra (Cattle Theft), Go-dāna (Cow-Gift), and Suvarṇa-dakṣiṇā (Gold Fee): Karmic Consequence and Purificatory Merit
शतं सहस्राणि गवां शतं पुनः पुन: शतान्यष्टशतायुतानि । त्वया पुरा दत्तमितीह शुश्रुम नृप द्विजेभ्य: क्व नु तद् गतं तव,“नरेश्वर! हमने सुना है कि पूर्वकालमें आपने ब्राह्मणोंको पहले एक लाख गौएँ दान कीं। दूसरी बार सौ गौओंका दान किया। तीसरी बार पुनः सौ गौएँ दानमें दीं। फिर चौथी बार आपने गोदानका ऐसा सिलसिला चलाया कि लगातार अस्सी लाख गौओंका दान कर दिया। (इस प्रकार आपके द्वारा इक््यासी लाख दो सौ गौएँ दानमें दी गयीं) आपके उन सब दानोंका पुण्यफल कहाँ चला गया?”
śataṃ sahasrāṇi gavāṃ śataṃ punaḥ punaḥ śatāny aṣṭaśatāyutāni | tvayā purā dattam itīha śuśruma nṛpa dvijebhyaḥ kva nu tad gataṃ tava ||
Bhishma said: “O king, we have heard that in former times you gave to the Brahmins a hundred thousand cows; then again a hundred, and again another hundred; and thereafter, in repeated great gifts, eight hundred ten-thousands more. Where, then, has the merit of all those gifts gone for you?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even vast charity (such as repeated cow-gifts) must be protected by right conduct; Bhishma’s question implies that merit can be diminished or lost when later actions contradict dharma, so one must unite generosity with ethical living.
Bhishma addresses a king and recalls reports of his enormous donations to Brahmins—ranging from 100,000 cows to further gifts totaling millions—then challenges him by asking where the fruit of those gifts has gone, setting up a discussion on how merit operates and how it may be preserved or squandered.