Shloka 22
Cyavana’s Yogic Display and Kuśika’s Recognition of Tapas (च्यवन-योगप्रभावः कुशिकस्य तपःप्रशंसा च)
(ब्राह्मणानां गवां चैव कुलमेकं द्विधा कृतम् । एकत्र मन्त्रास्तिष्ठन्ति हविरन्यत्र तिष्ठतति ।।
bhīṣma uvāca |
brāhmaṇānāṃ gavāṃ caiva kulam ekaṃ dvidhā kṛtam |
ekatra mantrās tiṣṭhanti havir anyatra tiṣṭhati ||
anarghyā mahārāja dvijā varṇeṣu cottamāḥ |
gāvaś ca puruṣavyāghra gaur mūlyaṃ parikalpyatām ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Oh rey, el linaje de los brahmanes y el de las vacas es uno, aunque parezca dividido en dos formas: en un lugar moran los mantras sagrados, y en el otro mora el havis, la oblación misma. Oh tigre entre los hombres, los dos veces nacidos son inestimables y los primeros entre los órdenes sociales; y las vacas también, más allá de toda tasación. Por ello, asígnese una vaca como su “precio”: no como medida verdadera de su valor, sino como el debido signo de honor al dar.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Brahmins and cows are presented as intrinsically sacred and ‘priceless’: Brahmins embody the Vedic mantras, while cows embody the sacrificial offering (havis). Since their worth cannot be truly measured, any ‘price’ is only a symbolic honor—hence the stipulation of giving a cow as an appropriate token in acts of giving and reverence.
Bhishma is instructing the king on dharma related to honoring Brahmins and cows. He frames them as two manifestations of a single sacred lineage—mantra and oblation—then advises that, though beyond valuation, a cow may be fixed as the conventional token of value in the context of gifts and ritual propriety.