Shloka 33
Chapter 84: Brahmā’s Counsel on Tāraka, the Search for Agni, and the Genesis of Skanda
Kārttikeya
गाश्च शुश्रूषते यश्व समन्वेति च सर्वश: । तस्मै तुष्टा: प्रयच्छन्ति वरानपि सुदुर्लभान्,जो पुरुष गौओंकी सेवा और सब प्रकारसे उनका अनुगमन करता है, उसपर संतुष्ट होकर गौएँ उसे अत्यन्त दुर्लभ वर प्रदान करती हैं
gāś ca śuśrūṣate yaś ca samanveti ca sarvaśaḥ | tasmai tuṣṭāḥ prayacchanti varān api sudurlabhān ||
Vyāsa said: Whoever serves the cows and follows after them in every way—attending to their needs and keeping them safe—upon him the cows, being pleased, bestow even boons that are exceedingly hard to obtain.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Devoted service and protection of cows—understood as sustaining, gentle beings central to household and ritual life—is presented as dharmic conduct that generates extraordinary merit, so much so that it is poetically described as earning even rare boons.
Vyāsa states a general rule of conduct: a person who consistently attends to cows and stays with them in all respects wins their favor; pleased, they are said to grant him difficult-to-obtain blessings—an exhortation to practical, compassionate caretaking.