Shloka 26
Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ
Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers
नामृतेनामृतं पीतं वत्सपीता न वत्सला | इमॉल्लोकान् भरिष्यन्ति हविषा प्रस्नरवेण च
nāmṛtenāmṛtaṃ pītaṃ vatsapītā na vatsalā | imāṁl lokān bhariṣyanti haviṣā prasnaraveṇa ca ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Sans le véritable “nectar” de la conduite juste, ce que l’on boit n’est pas un nectar ; et une vache qui laisse le veau prendre son lait n’est pas pour autant, en vérité, affectueuse. C’est par les oblations sacrificielles (havis) et par l’énonciation sacrée conforme —l’appel, le chant rituel— que ces mondes sont maintenus».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma distinguishes mere appearance from genuine substance: something is not truly ‘amṛta’ just because it is called or consumed as such, and affection is not proved by a single outward act. The stability of the worlds is linked to dharmic order expressed through yajña—offerings (havis) and their proper sacred recitation.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he uses compact analogies (amṛta and the cow-calf image) to emphasize discernment and then points to the sustaining role of ritual duty—oblations and the accompanying sacred utterance.