Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
अथ गव्यं पयस्तात कदाचित् प्राशितं मया,तात! उसके पहले एक दिन मैंने गायका दूध पीया था। पिताजी यज्ञके समय एक बड़े भारी धनी कुटुम्बीके घर मुझे ले गये थे। वहाँ दिव्य सुरभी गाय दूध दे रही थी
atha gavyam payas tāta kadācit prāśitaṃ mayā | tāta! uske pūrve eka dina mayā gāyāḥ dugdhaṃ pītaṃ āsīt | pitā yajñasamaye ekaṃ mahādhaniṃ kuṭumbinaṃ gṛhaṃ māṃ nītavān | tatra divyā surabhī gāvaḥ payaḥ adadāt |
Vāsudeva dit : «Mon enfant, il m’est arrivé une fois de boire du lait de vache. Auparavant, un certain jour, au temps du sacrifice (yajña), mon père m’emmena chez un maître de maison immensément riche. Là, une merveilleuse vache Surabhī donnait son lait.»
वासुदेव उवाच
The passage frames cow’s milk and the cow as sacred gifts encountered within a yajña-context, highlighting dharmic values of reverence, purity, and the ethical weight of what one consumes and receives—especially when connected to ritual and hospitality.
Vāsudeva recounts a personal memory: as a child he once drank cow’s milk when his father took him, during a sacrifice, to the home of a very wealthy householder, where a divine Surabhī cow was producing milk.