Shloka 49
Phala of Vrata, Niyama, Svādhyāya, Dama, Satya, Brahmacarya, and Service (व्रत-नियम-स्वाध्याय-दम-सत्य-ब्रह्मचर्य-शुश्रूषा-फलप्रश्नः)
एतद् दानं न्यायलब्धं द्विजेभ्य: पात्रे दत्त प्रापणीयं परीक्ष्य । काम्याष्टम्या वर्तितव्यं दशाहं रसैर्गवां शकृता प्रस्नवैर्वा
etad dānaṃ nyāyalabdhaṃ dvijebhyaḥ pātre dattaṃ prāpaṇīyaṃ parīkṣya | kāmyāṣṭamyā vartitavyaṃ daśāhaṃ rasair gavāṃ śakṛtā prasnavair vā ||
ナチケータは言った。「この施し—正しく得られた牛財—は二度生まれの者（バラモン）に与えるべきである。受者のふさわしさを吟味したのち、真に相応しい者に与えた牛は、しかるべき作法によりその家まで届けられねばならない。さらに、儀礼のために選ばれた吉祥なるアシュタミー（Aṣṭamī、月の八日）から始めて十日間の戒行を守り、牛の産物—乳およびそれに類する汁—あるいは牛糞、あるいは牛尿をもって身を支えるべきである。」
नाचिकेत उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be funded by ethically acquired wealth, offered to genuinely worthy recipients after due scrutiny, and completed responsibly (ensuring the gift reaches the recipient). The accompanying ten-day observance emphasizes self-discipline and ritual purification through cow-related substances, framing dāna as both ethical and ascetic practice.
Naciketas lays down procedural and moral guidelines for go-dāna (donation of cows): acquire the cattle righteously, test the recipient’s worthiness, deliver the cow properly, and undertake a ten-day regimen beginning on an auspicious Aṣṭamī, living on cow-products as part of the rite.