Shloka 37
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
अभावे यो गवां दद्यात् तिलधेनुं यतव्रत: । दुर्गात् स तारितो थेन्वा क्षीरनद्यां प्रमोदते
abhāve yo gavāṁ dadyāt tiladhenuṁ yatavrataḥ | durgāt sa tārito dhenuvā kṣīranadyāṁ pramodate ||
भीष्म ने कहा—जो संयमी और व्रतनिष्ठ पुरुष, गौओं के अभाव में तिलधेनु का दान करता है, वह उस धेनु के पुण्य-प्रभाव से दुर्गम संकट से पार हो जाता है और क्षीर-धारा बहाने वाली नदी के तट पर आनन्द करता है।
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when ideal resources are unavailable, a disciplined person should still uphold dāna-dharma through an appropriate substitute; sincere charity, performed with restraint and right intention, becomes a means of protection from संकट and yields auspicious posthumous reward.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on gifts and धर्म, he explains the फल (result) of donating a tiladhenu when cows cannot be obtained: the donor is metaphorically ‘carried across’ dangers by that merit and attains a blissful realm symbolized by a river of milk.