Shloka 3
Chapter 84: Brahmā’s Counsel on Tāraka, the Search for Agni, and the Genesis of Skanda
Kārttikeya
न हि पुण्यतमं किंचिद् गो भ्यो भरतसत्तम । एता: पुण्या: पवित्राश्न त्रिषु लोकेषु सत्तमा:
na hi puṇyatamaṃ kiñcid gobhyo bharatasattama | etāḥ puṇyāḥ pavitrāś ca triṣu lokeṣu sattamāḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Ô le meilleur des Bharata, rien n’est plus souverainement méritoire que les vaches. Elles sont elles-mêmes sources de mérite et de pureté, et l’on les tient pour les premières des êtres à travers les trois mondes. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that honoring and protecting cows is presented as an exceptionally powerful source of puṇya (religious merit) and as a means of cultivating purity and dharmic conduct.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he emphasizes the exalted status of cows, framing them as supremely meritorious and purifying across the three worlds.