Shloka 8

Devanagari script

हेमशृड्ग्यो रौप्यखुरा: सवत्सा: कांस्यदोहना:

Transliteration

hemaśṛṅgyo raupyakhurāḥ savatsāḥ kāṃsyadohanāḥ

Translation

Narada said: “(They were) cows with horns of gold and hooves of silver, each with her calf, and yielding milk into vessels of bronze.”

Word by Word

हेमशृङ्ग्यःhaving golden horns

रौप्यखुराःhaving silver hooves

सवत्साःwith calves

कांस्यदोहनाḥyielding (milk) into bronze vessels / having bronze milking-pails

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

cows (gauḥ)

calves (vatsa)

golden horns

silver hooves

bronze milking vessels

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses idealized, precious attributes of cows to highlight the sanctity and merit of auspicious wealth when aligned with dharma—especially in contexts of gifting, ritual propriety, and righteous conduct—standing as a moral counterpoint to the violence of the war narrative.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is describing extraordinary cows—gold-horned, silver-hoofed, each with a calf, and milked into bronze vessels—evoking a scene of exceptional prosperity and ritualized abundance within the broader Drona Parva account.