Shloka 44
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
दत्त्वा धेनुं सुव्रतां साधुदोहां कल्याणवत्सामपलायिनीं च । यावन्ति रोमाणि भवन्ति तस्या- स्तावन्ति वर्षाणि भवन्त्यमुत्र
dattvā dhenuṃ suvratāṃ sādhudohāṃ kalyāṇavatsām apalāyinīṃ ca | yāvanti romāṇi bhavanti tasyās tāvanti varṣāṇi bhavanty amutra ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Celui qui donne en aumône une vache de bonne observance—docile, facile à traire et donnant un bon lait, pourvue d’un beau veau, et qui ne s’enfuit pas en rompant son attache—jouira, dans l’au-delà, du bonheur pendant autant d’années qu’elle a de poils sur le corps.»
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the dharmic value of dāna: gifting a well-kept, useful, and non-troublesome cow is praised as a highly meritorious act, yielding prolonged happiness in the afterlife proportional to the cow’s hairs.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and gifts (dāna-dharma), he specifies the ideal qualities of a cow suitable for donation and states the spiritual reward that accrues to the donor in the next world.