Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 55
ततो विप्राय सा देया सर्वसस्यौघमालिनी । अथान्यच्छृणु राजेन्द्र गोदानस्य तु यत्फलम्
tato viprāya sā deyā sarvasasyaughamālinī | athānyacchṛṇu rājendra godānasya tu yatphalam
C’est pourquoi elle (la vache) doit être donnée à un brāhmaṇa—elle, parée de l’abondance des moissons et des récoltes. Écoute maintenant encore, ô meilleur des rois, le fruit qui naît du don d’une vache.
Narrator addressing the King (explicit: rājendra)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) kṣetra (contextual)
Type: river
Listener: Rājendra (best of kings)
Scene: A richly adorned cow (garlands, cloth, horn decorations) stands beside heaps of grain and harvest motifs; the donor presents the cow to a brāhmaṇa recipient. The narrator turns to address the king, signaling a forthcoming enumeration of go-dāna fruits.
FAQs
Cow-gift is praised as a dharmic act when offered to a qualified brāhmaṇa, promising great spiritual fruit.
The discourse belongs to the Revā Khaṇḍa (Narmadā region), framing dāna as part of the tīrtha’s sacred economy.
Give the cow as dāna specifically to a vipra (brāhmaṇa), then the text proceeds to describe the resulting merit.