Mahabharata 3.201.71 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 71
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
यावन्ति तस्या रोमाणि वत्सस्य च युधिष्ठिर । तावद् युगसहस््राणि स्वर्गलोके महीयते
yāvanti tasyā romāṇi vatsasya ca yudhiṣṭhira | tāvad yugasahasrāṇi svargaloke mahīyate ||
युधिष्ठिर! उस गौ और बछड़े के शरीर में जितने रोएँ होते हैं, उतने हजार युगों तक दाता स्वर्गलोक में सम्मानित होकर प्रतिष्ठित रहता है।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that charitable giving (especially the gift of a cow with her calf) is a powerful dharmic act whose merit is portrayed as immense—measured hyperbolically by the number of hairs on the animals—encouraging generosity and faith in karmic results.
In a discourse context within the Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about the fruits of dāna, stating that the donor of the cow-and-calf attains honor in Svarga for thousands of yugas, emphasizing the exalted reward associated with such a gift.
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