Shloka 10

अध्याय १३२ — कर्मणा मनसा वाचा: स्वर्गमार्गः तथा आयुर्विपाकः

Adhyāya 132 — The path to heaven through deed, mind, and speech; karmic results for lifespan

Devanagari script

गोब्राह्मणं न हिंस्याच्च पुष्कराणि च कीर्तयेत्‌ । एष श्रेष्ठतमो धर्म: सरहस्यो महाफल:

Transliteration

gobrāhmaṇaṁ na hiṁsyācca puṣkarāṇi ca kīrtayet | eṣa śreṣṭhatamo dharmaḥ sarahasyo mahāphalaḥ ||

Translation

Gārgya dijo: «No se debe dañar a las vacas ni a los brāhmaṇas, y se deben recitar con regularidad los nombres de los lugares sagrados de Puṣkara. Ésta es la forma más excelsa del dharma—enseñada con su razón interior y su “secreto” sagrado—y otorga un gran fruto espiritual».

Word by Word

• {'go-': 'cow

• cattle (a protected, revered being in dharmaśāstra ethics)', 'brāhmaṇa': 'a brāhmaṇa

• also a symbol of sacred learning and ritual order', 'na': 'not', 'hiṁsyāt': 'should harm/kill

• injure (optative of √hiṁs)', 'ca': 'and', 'puṣkarāṇi': 'the Puṣkara tīrthas/sacred sites (plural

• often understood as multiple Puṣkara holy places)', 'kīrtayet': 'should recite, praise, commemorate (optative of √kīrt)', 'eṣaḥ': 'this', 'śreṣṭhatamaḥ': 'the very best, most excellent (superlative)', 'dharmaḥ': 'righteous duty

• right conduct', 'sa-rahasyaḥ': 'together with its ‘rahasya’—inner meaning/secret teaching', 'mahā-phalaḥ': 'of great fruit

Speaker

गार्ग्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Gārgya
• go (cow)
• brāhmaṇa
• Puṣkara (tīrtha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse elevates non-violence toward protected beings (cows and brāhmaṇas) and devotional remembrance of a tīrtha (Puṣkara) as a supreme dharma that yields great spiritual merit, presented as a teaching with an inner, ‘secret’ rationale (rahasya).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused setting, Gārgya is delivering a concise rule of conduct: refrain from harming cows and brāhmaṇas and regularly commemorate the Puṣkara sacred places, declaring this practice to be an especially potent and authoritative dharma.