Shloka 38
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
न त्वेवासां दानमात्र प्रशस्तं पात्र कालो गोविशेषो विधिकश्ष । कालज्ञानं विप्र गवान्तरं हि दुःखं ज्ञातुं पावकादित्यभूतम्
Pitāmaha uvāca: na tvevāsāṁ dānamātraṁ praśastaṁ pātraḥ kālo goviśeṣo vidhikaś ca | kālajñānaṁ vipra gavāntaraṁ hi duḥkhaṁ jñātuṁ pāvakādityabhūtam ||
Pitāmaha bersabda: “Bukan semata-mata tindakan memberi sapi yang patut dipuji. Dalam pemberian demikian harus dipertimbangkan penerima yang tepat, waktu yang tepat, sapi yang unggul, tata cara yang benar, serta ketajaman menilai saat. Wahai brāhmaṇa, sungguh sukar mengetahui tingkatan di antara sapi-sapi, dan mengenali penerima yang bercahaya laksana api dan matahari.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity is not judged only by the act of giving; its ethical value depends on discernment—choosing a worthy recipient (pātra), an appropriate time (kāla), a gift of genuine quality (go-viśeṣa), and following proper procedure (vidhi).
Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha), instructing on dāna-dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, explains to a brāhmaṇa interlocutor that go-dāna requires careful evaluation: both the relative excellence of cows and the spiritual stature of the recipient—likened to the brilliance of fire and the sun—are difficult to assess.