Shloka 6
Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ
Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers
जरारोगोपसम्पन्नां जीर्णा वापीमिवाजलाम् | दत्त्वा तम: प्रविशति द्विजं क्लेशेन योजयेत्
jarārogopasampannāṁ jīrṇā vāpīm ivājalām | dattvā tamaḥ praviśati dvijaṁ kleśena yojayet ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Bila seseorang menghadiahkan seekor sapi yang didera tua dan penyakit—lusuh bagaikan sumur runtuh tanpa air—ia jatuh ke dalam kegelapan (neraka yang pedih). Pemberian semacam itu hanya membebani brāhmaṇa penerima dengan kesusahan. Karena itu, sedekah harus layak dan membawa manfaat; memberi sesuatu yang tak berguna atau melemahkan bukanlah jasa, melainkan sebab dosa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be appropriate and beneficial. Donating something useless—like a cow ruined by age and disease—does not create merit; it harms the recipient and leads the giver toward demerit and a ‘dark’ fate.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma, he warns that giving a decrepit, diseased cow is ethically wrong because it imposes hardship on the brāhmaṇa recipient; such a ‘gift’ is condemned and said to lead to darkness/hell.