Shloka 2
भीष्म उवाच गावो महार्था: पुण्याश्ष॒ तारयन्ति च मानवान् | धारयन्ति प्रजाश्षेमा हविषा पयसा तथा,भीष्मजीने कहा--राजन! गौएँ महान प्रयोजन सिद्धू करनेवाली तथा परम पवित्र हैं। ये मनुष्योंको तारनेवाली हैं और अपने दूध-घीसे प्रजावर्गके जीवनकी रक्षा करती हैं
bhīṣma uvāca gāvo mahārthāḥ puṇyāś ca tārayanti ca mānavān | dhārayanti prajāḥ kṣemā haviṣā payasā tathā ||
Bhishma said: “O king, cows are of great practical and spiritual value and are supremely pure. They help human beings cross over (from sin and distress), and by their milk and by ghee used in sacred offerings they sustain the welfare and security of living beings.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cows are presented as both materially beneficial and spiritually purifying: they sustain society through milk and support sacred rites through ghee, thereby promoting human welfare and moral-spiritual uplift.
In Bhishma’s instruction to the king (Yudhishthira) within the Anushasana Parva, he praises the importance of cows, explaining their role in sustaining beings and enabling sacrificial offerings that uphold dharma.