Shloka 10

गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्

Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows

Devanagari script

कुलानां पावन प्राहुर्जातरूपं शतक्रतो । एषा मे दक्षिणा प्रोक्ता समासेन महाद्युते,महातेजस्वी शतक्रतो! सुवर्ण सम्पूर्ण कुलोंको पवित्र करनेवाला बताया गया है। इस प्रकार मैंने तुमसे संक्षेपमें यह दक्षिणाकी बात बतायी

Transliteration

kulānāṃ pāvanaṃ prāhur jātarūpaṃ śatakrato | eṣā me dakṣiṇā proktā samāsena mahādyute ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “O Śatakratu (Indra), they declare gold to be a purifier of lineages. This, O mighty one, is the sacrificial fee (dakṣiṇā) I have stated to you in brief.”

Word by Word

• {'kulānām': 'of families/lineages (genitive plural of kula)', 'pāvanam': 'purifying, purifier', 'prāhuḥ': 'they say, they declare (perfect/preterite plural)', 'jātarūpam': 'gold (literally ‘having a born/form’

• a common term for gold)', 'śatakrato': 'O Śatakratu

• epithet of Indra (‘of a hundred sacrifices/rites’)', 'eṣā': 'this (feminine demonstrative)', 'me': 'my / by me', 'dakṣiṇā': 'sacrificial fee

• honorarium in a rite', 'proktā': 'said, declared, taught', 'samāsena': 'briefly, in summary', 'mahādyute': 'O greatly radiant/mighty one (vocative)'}

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)
• Indra (Śatakratu)
• Gold (jātarūpa/suvarṇa)
• Dakṣiṇā (sacrificial fee/gift)