Shloka 49
Phala of Vrata, Niyama, Svādhyāya, Dama, Satya, Brahmacarya, and Service (व्रत-नियम-स्वाध्याय-दम-सत्य-ब्रह्मचर्य-शुश्रूषा-फलप्रश्नः)
एतद् दानं न्यायलब्धं द्विजेभ्य: पात्रे दत्त प्रापणीयं परीक्ष्य । काम्याष्टम्या वर्तितव्यं दशाहं रसैर्गवां शकृता प्रस्नवैर्वा
etad dānaṃ nyāyalabdhaṃ dvijebhyaḥ pātre dattaṃ prāpaṇīyaṃ parīkṣya | kāmyāṣṭamyā vartitavyaṃ daśāhaṃ rasair gavāṃ śakṛtā prasnavair vā ||
Dijo Naciketa: «Este don—ganado adquirido por medios justos—debe entregarse a los dos veces nacidos (brahmanes). Tras examinar la dignidad del destinatario, la vaca dada a quien verdaderamente la merece debe ser debidamente llevada hasta su casa. Además, comenzando en cualquier Aṣṭamī propicia (el octavo día lunar) elegida para el rito, debe observarse una disciplina de diez días, sustentándose con los productos de la vaca—leche y jugos afines—o con estiércol de vaca, o con orina de vaca.»
नाचिकेत उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be funded by ethically acquired wealth, offered to genuinely worthy recipients after due scrutiny, and completed responsibly (ensuring the gift reaches the recipient). The accompanying ten-day observance emphasizes self-discipline and ritual purification through cow-related substances, framing dāna as both ethical and ascetic practice.
Naciketas lays down procedural and moral guidelines for go-dāna (donation of cows): acquire the cattle righteously, test the recipient’s worthiness, deliver the cow properly, and undertake a ten-day regimen beginning on an auspicious Aṣṭamī, living on cow-products as part of the rite.