Shloka 14
गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्
Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows
उपाध्यायेन गदितं मम चेदं युधिष्ठिर । य इदं ब्राह्मणो नित्यं वदेद् ब्राह्मणसंसदि
upādhyāyena gaditaṃ mama cedaṃ yudhiṣṭhira | ya idaṃ brāhmaṇo nityaṃ vaded brāhmaṇasaṃsadi || (iti brahmā sa bhagavān uvāca parameśvaraḥ) |
Bhīṣma dijo: «Yudhiṣṭhira, esta enseñanza me fue referida por mi propio preceptor. Cualquier brāhmaṇa que la recite con regularidad en una asamblea de brāhmaṇas—y que la mencione también en los sacrificios, en el momento de donar vacas, e incluso cuando dos personas se encuentran y conversan—alcanza mundos imperecederos en compañía de los dioses. Esto mismo fue declarado por el Señor supremo Brahmā a Indra».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That sacred instruction gains special potency when preserved through disciplined, regular recitation and shared in appropriate dhārmic settings (learned assemblies, sacrifices, and gift-rituals). The verse emphasizes the ethical value of transmitting dharma through speech and study, promising enduring spiritual reward for such stewardship.
Bhīṣma, instructing Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, cites the authority-chain of the teaching: he learned it from his preceptor (identified in the tradition as Paraśurāma), and he further frames it as a doctrine once spoken by Brahmā to Indra, thereby strengthening its legitimacy and urging its continual recitation among brāhmaṇas.