Shloka 72
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
सुवर्णनासां यः कृत्वा सुखुरां कृष्णधेनुकाम् । तिलै: प्रच्छादितां दद्यात् सर्वरत्नैरलंकृताम्,भारत! जो सोनेकी नाक और सुन्दर चाँदीके खुरोंसे विभूषित, सब प्रकारके रत्नोंसे अलंकृत, काली गौको तिलोंसे प्रच्छादित करके उसका दान करता है और जो उस दानको लेकर पुनः किसी दूसरे श्रेष्ठ पुरुषको अर्पित कर देता है, वह सर्वोत्तम फलका भागी होता है
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | suvarṇanāsāṃ yaḥ kṛtvā śukharāṃ kṛṣṇadhenukām | tilaiḥ pracchāditāṃ dadyāt sarvaratnair alaṅkṛtām, bhārata! yo so sone kī nāk aura sundar cāṃdī ke khuroṃ se vibhūṣit, sab prakār ke ratnoṃ se alaṅkṛt, kālī gau ko tiloṃ se pracchādit karke usakā dāna kartā hai aura jo us dān ko lekar punaḥ kisī dūsre śreṣṭha puruṣ ko arpit kar detā hai, vaha sarvottama phal kā bhāgī hotā hai
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Bhārata, one who prepares a black cow for gifting—fitting it with a golden nose-ornament, adorning its hooves with fine silver, decorating it with all kinds of jewels, and covering it with sesame seeds—and then gives it in charity; and one who, having received such a gift, offers it again to another worthy and excellent person—such a person becomes entitled to the highest fruit.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that lavish, reverent giving (dāna) directed toward worthy recipients yields great spiritual merit, and that re-gifting a received donation to another deserving person can be an especially meritorious act—emphasizing non-attachment and the circulation of generosity.
Yudhiṣṭhira is describing a specific exemplary form of charitable gift: a black cow richly adorned (golden nose-ornament, silvered hooves, jewels) and ritually covered with sesame seeds, given as dāna; he then notes the superior merit of one who, after receiving such a gift, offers it onward to another excellent person.