Shloka 42
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
बलान्विता: शीलवयोपपन्ना: सर्वा: प्रशंसन्ते सुगन्धवत्य: । यथा हि गंगा सरितां वरिष्ठा तथार्जुनीनां कपिला वरिष्ठा
balānvitāḥ śīlavayopapannāḥ sarvāḥ praśaṃsante sugandhavatyaḥ | yathā hi gaṅgā saritāṃ variṣṭhā tathārjunīnāṃ kapilā variṣṭhā ||
Bhīṣma said: “All these cows—endowed with strength, possessed of good conduct, and in the prime of youth—are praised as fragrant and excellent. Just as the Gaṅgā is the foremost among rivers, so Kapilā is the foremost among the Arjunī cows.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights standards of excellence in gifts and virtues: just as the Gaṅgā is held supreme among rivers, a superior cow (Kapilā among the Arjunī line) is praised as an ideal for righteous giving and merit-oriented conduct.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma is describing and praising exemplary cows—strong, well-behaved, youthful, and even ‘fragrant’—and singles out Kapilā as the foremost among the Arjunī cows, using the Gaṅgā as a comparison for supremacy.