Shloka 14
त्वचा लोम्नाथशंगैर्वा वालै: क्षीरेण मेदसा । यज्ञ वहति सम्भूय किमस्त्यभ्यधिकं ततः,त्वचा, रोम, सींग, पूँछके बाल, दूध और मेदा आदिके साथ मिलकर गौ (दूध, दही, घी आदिके द्वारा) यज्ञका निर्वाह करती है; अतः उससे श्रेष्ठ दूसरी कौन-सी वस्तु है
tvacā lomnāthaśaṅgair vā vālaiḥ kṣīreṇa medasā | yajñaṁ vahati sambhūya kim asty abhyadhikaṁ tataḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “With her hide, hair, bones and horns, with her tail-hairs, with her milk and her fat—bringing all these together—the cow sustains the sacrificial order (yajña). What, then, could be superior to her?”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The cow is portrayed as uniquely dharmic because her various products and even bodily parts are understood to support yajña and communal religious life; therefore she deserves special protection, gratitude, and non-violence.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-oriented discourse, Vasiṣṭha argues for the cow’s preeminence by listing how her milk, fat (ghee), and other associated materials are used to sustain sacrificial rites, concluding that nothing surpasses her in service to yajña.