Shloka 6
Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ
Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers
जरारोगोपसम्पन्नां जीर्णा वापीमिवाजलाम् | दत्त्वा तम: प्रविशति द्विजं क्लेशेन योजयेत्
jarārogopasampannāṁ jīrṇā vāpīm ivājalām | dattvā tamaḥ praviśati dvijaṁ kleśena yojayet ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Si alguien da en caridad una vaca afligida por la vejez y la enfermedad—gastada como un pozo arruinado y sin agua—cae en la oscuridad (un infierno terrible). Tal dádiva no hace sino cargar al brāhmaṇa que la recibe con penurias. Por ello, la caridad ha de ser apta y beneficiosa; dar lo inútil o lo que debilita no es mérito verdadero, sino causa de pecado.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be appropriate and beneficial. Donating something useless—like a cow ruined by age and disease—does not create merit; it harms the recipient and leads the giver toward demerit and a ‘dark’ fate.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma, he warns that giving a decrepit, diseased cow is ethically wrong because it imposes hardship on the brāhmaṇa recipient; such a ‘gift’ is condemned and said to lead to darkness/hell.