Shloka 26
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
एतच्चैनं यो<नुतिछेत युक्तः सत्ये रतो गुरुशुश्रूषया च । दक्ष: क्षान्तो देवतार्थी प्रशान्तः शुचिर्बुद्धो धर्मशीलोडनहंवाक्ू
etac cainaṃ yo ’nutisṭhet yuktaḥ satye rato guruśuśrūṣayā ca | dakṣaḥ kṣānto devatārthī praśāntaḥ śucir buddho dharmaśīlo ’nahaṃvāk ||
Bhīṣma said: Whoever, being disciplined, lives in accordance with this—delighting in truth and devoted to serving the teacher—who is capable, patient, intent on the worship of the gods, inwardly calm, pure, wise, established in dharma, and free from self-assertive speech: such a person truly embodies the conduct being taught here.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the traits of a person who truly practices the prescribed dharmic discipline: commitment to truth, service to the teacher, competence joined with patience, devotion to the divine, inner tranquility, purity, wisdom, steady righteous conduct, and humility expressed as freedom from ego-driven speech.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he summarizes the kind of disciplined practitioner who follows the teaching properly, listing the ethical and spiritual qualities that mark such a person.