Shloka 27
Gavāṃ Māhātmya — Go-dāna, Yajña-ādhāra, and Goloka
Brahmā–Indra–Surabhi Itihāsa
यावन्ति रोमाणि भवन्ति धेन्वा- स्तावन्ति वर्षाणि महीयते सः । स्वर्गच्युतश्नापि ततो नूलोके प्रसूयते वै विपुले गृहे स:,गौके शरीरमें जितने रोएँ होते हैं, उतने वर्षोतक वह स्वर्गलोकमें सम्मानपूर्वक रहता है। फिर पुण्यक्षीण होनेपर जब स्वर्गसे नीचे उतरता है, तब इस मनुष्यलोकमें आकर सम्पन्न घरमें जन्म लेता है
yāvanti romāṇi bhavanti dhenvāḥ tāvanti varṣāṇi mahīyate saḥ | svargacyutaḥ śnāpi tato nūloke prasūyate vai vipule gṛhe saḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “For as many hairs as there are on a cow’s body, for that many years the giver is honored in heaven. When that merit is exhausted and he falls from heaven, he is then born again in this human world in a prosperous household.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the karmic fruit of dāna, specifically go-dāna: a measurable heavenly reward (honor in Svarga) followed by an auspicious human rebirth (in a prosperous family) once the accumulated merit is spent.
Vasiṣṭha is describing the posthumous outcome for a person associated with the meritorious act being discussed (contextually, gifting a cow): first enjoying honor in heaven for a long duration, then returning to human birth in favorable circumstances after the heavenly merit is exhausted.