Shloka 3
Chapter 84: Brahmā’s Counsel on Tāraka, the Search for Agni, and the Genesis of Skanda
Kārttikeya
न हि पुण्यतमं किंचिद् गो भ्यो भरतसत्तम । एता: पुण्या: पवित्राश्न त्रिषु लोकेषु सत्तमा:,भरतश्रेष्ठ। गौओंसे बढ़कर परम पवित्र दूसरी कोई वस्तु नहीं है। ये पुण्यजनक, पवित्र तथा तीनों लोकोंमें सर्वश्रेष्ठ हैं
na hi puṇyatamaṃ kiñcid gobhyo bharatasattama | etāḥ puṇyāḥ pavitrāś ca triṣu lokeṣu sattamāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “O best of the Bharatas, nothing whatsoever is more supremely meritorious than cows. They are themselves sources of merit and purity, and are regarded as the foremost among beings across the three worlds.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that honoring and protecting cows is presented as an exceptionally powerful source of puṇya (religious merit) and as a means of cultivating purity and dharmic conduct.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he emphasizes the exalted status of cows, framing them as supremely meritorious and purifying across the three worlds.