Shloka 11
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
गावो ममैन: प्रणुदन्तु सौर्या- स्तथा सौम्या: स्वर्गयानाय सनन््तु । आत्मानं मे मातृवच्चा श्रयन्तु यथानुक्ता: सन्तु सर्वाशिषो मे
gāvo mamainaḥ praṇudantu sauryās tathā saumyāḥ svargayānāya sanantu | ātmānaṃ me mātṛvac cāśrayantu yathānuktāḥ santu sarvāśiṣo me ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Que les vaches—nées des parts du Soleil et de la Lune—chassent mon péché. Qu’elles favorisent mon passage vers le ciel et vers d’autres mondes d’excellence. Qu’elles m’accordent refuge comme une mère. Et par la grâce de la Mère-Vache, que toutes mes bénédictions et mes souhaits s’accomplissent, ceux qui sont dits dans ces mantras comme ceux qui ne le sont pas.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the cow as a sacred refuge and a source of purification: honoring and seeking the grace of cows is portrayed as dispelling moral demerit (enaḥ), supporting auspicious destiny (svarga-yāna), and fulfilling both expressed and unexpressed righteous wishes.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction (Anuśāsana Parva), he utters a prayer/benediction invoking cows—linked symbolically to the Sun and Moon—to remove sin, grant maternal protection, and aid his (and by extension the listener’s) attainment of higher worlds and desired blessings.