Shloka 76

Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa

Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation

Devanagari script

नरेन्द्र! राजा युधिष्ठिर सदा ही गौओंके प्रति विनीत-चित्त होकर उनकी स्तुति करते रहते थे। उन्होंने फिर कभी बैलका अपनी सवारीमें उपयोग नहीं किया। वे अच्छे-अच्छे घोड़ोंद्वारा ही इधर-उधरकी यात्रा करते थे ।।

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | narendra rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ sadā hi gāvoṃ prati vinīta-citto bhūtvā tāsāṃ stutiṃ kurvan tiṣṭhati sma | sa punaḥ kadācit balīvardaṃ svayātrāyāṃ na yojayām āsa | sa tu śobhanaiḥ aśvaiḥ eva kvacid kvacid yātrāṃ karoti sma ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O lord of men, King Yudhiṣṭhira always kept a humble and reverent mind toward cows and continually praised them. Thereafter he never again used an ox for riding or travel. For his journeys from place to place, he relied only on fine horses.”

Word by Word

• {'narendra': 'king

• lord of men', 'rājā': 'king', 'yudhiṣṭhiraḥ': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (eldest Pāṇḍava)', 'sadā': 'always', 'gāvaḥ / gāvoṃ prati': 'cows

• toward cows', 'vinīta-citta': 'humble-minded

• disciplined and gentle in attitude', 'stuti': 'praise

• eulogy', 'balīvarda': 'bull/ox (especially a draught animal)', 'svayātrā': 'one’s own travel/ride

• personal conveyance', 'na yojayām āsa': 'did not employ

• did not harness/use', 'aśva': 'horse', 'yātrā': 'journey

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• cows (gāvaḥ)
• ox/bull (balīvarda)
• horses (aśvāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A righteous king cultivates humility and gratitude toward beings that sustain society—especially cows—and avoids exploiting them for personal comfort, embodying compassion and restraint as part of dāna-dharma and royal duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s ongoing reverence for cows: he praises them regularly and, as a practical expression of that reverence, stops using oxen for personal travel, choosing horses instead.