Shloka 53
Nṛga-upākhyāna: Brāhmaṇa-sva and the Consequence of Misappropriated Gift-Cattle (कृकलास-रूपे नृगोपाख्यानम्)
न कृशां नापवत्सां वा वन्ध्यां रोगान्वितां तथा । नव्यंगां न परिश्रान्तां दद्याद् गां ब्राह्मणाय वै
na kṛśāṃ nāpavatsāṃ vā vandhyāṃ rogānvitāṃ tathā | navy-aṅgāṃ na pariśrāntāṃ dadyād gāṃ brāhmaṇāya vai ||
ビーシュマは言った。「痩せ衰えた牝牛、子を失った牝牛、不妊の牝牛、病にある牝牛を、ブラーフマナに与えてはならない。また、身体に欠損があるもの、肢を欠くもの、老いと疲労で衰えきったものも与えてはならぬ。ダルマを敬うための布施は、ふさわしく健やかなものであるべきで、欠陥のある供物として相手の重荷となってはならない。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A righteous gift should be genuinely beneficial and respectful; offering a weak, barren, diseased, deformed, or exhausted cow to a Brāhmaṇa is improper because it turns charity into a burden and undermines the ethical intent of dāna.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma lays down practical rules for charitable giving—specifically, standards for donating cows—emphasizing suitability and integrity in offerings to Brāhmaṇas.