Shloka 14
गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्
Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows
उपाध्यायेन गदितं मम चेदं युधिष्ठिर । य इदं ब्राह्मणो नित्यं वदेद् ब्राह्मणसंसदि,(इति ब्रह्मा स भगवान् उवाच परमे श्वर:) युधिष्ठिर! मुझसे मेरे उपाध्याय (परशुरामजी) ने इस विषयका वर्णन किया था। जो ब्राह्मण अपनी मण्डलीमें बैठकर प्रतिदिन इस उपदेशको दुहराता है और यज्ञमें, गोदानके समय तथा दो व्यक्तियोंके भी समागममें इसकी चर्चा करता है, उसको सदा देवताओंके साथ अक्षयलोक प्राप्त होते हैं। यह बात भी परमेश्वर भगवान् ब्रह्माने स्वयं ही इन्द्रको बतायी है
upādhyāyena gaditaṃ mama cedaṃ yudhiṣṭhira | ya idaṃ brāhmaṇo nityaṃ vaded brāhmaṇasaṃsadi || (iti brahmā sa bhagavān uvāca parameśvaraḥ) |
Bhīṣma said: “Yudhiṣṭhira, this teaching was told to me by my own preceptor. Any brāhmaṇa who regularly recites it in an assembly of brāhmaṇas—bringing it up as well in sacrificial contexts, at the time of gifting cows, and even when two people meet in conversation—wins imperishable worlds in the company of the gods. This, too, was declared by the Supreme Lord Brahmā himself to Indra.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That sacred instruction gains special potency when preserved through disciplined, regular recitation and shared in appropriate dhārmic settings (learned assemblies, sacrifices, and gift-rituals). The verse emphasizes the ethical value of transmitting dharma through speech and study, promising enduring spiritual reward for such stewardship.
Bhīṣma, instructing Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, cites the authority-chain of the teaching: he learned it from his preceptor (identified in the tradition as Paraśurāma), and he further frames it as a doctrine once spoken by Brahmā to Indra, thereby strengthening its legitimacy and urging its continual recitation among brāhmaṇas.