Shloka 12
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
शोषोत्सगें कर्मभिर्देहमो क्षे सरस्वत्य: श्रेयसे सम्प्रवृत्ता: । यूयं नित्यं सर्वपुण्योपवाह्ां दिशध्वं मे गतिमिष्टां प्रसन्ना:
śoṣotsarge karmabhir dehamokṣe sarasvatyaḥ śreyase sampravṛttāḥ | yūyaṃ nityaṃ sarvapuṇyopavāhāṃ diśadhvaṃ me gatim iṣṭāṃ prasannāḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「おお牛たちよ。汝らに仕え礼拝する者の行いを喜び、汝らは彼らを消耗の病や諸々の患いから解き放つ。さらに真実の知を授けて、身を受ける束縛からさえ解放する。汝らに随侍する者の安寧のため、汝らは常に働き続ける—吉祥を運び流すサラスヴァティー河のごとく。ゆえに、常に我らに慈しみを垂れ、あらゆる功徳の総体によって得られる所願の帰趣を、我に授けよ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Service to cows is presented as a dharmic act whose fruits include relief from suffering, the rise of right knowledge, and ultimately liberation; the verse frames cows as conduits of puṇya who can bestow an auspicious gati when pleased.
Bhīṣma, instructing on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, addresses the cows directly in a prayer-like appeal, praising their beneficent power and asking them—being pleased—to grant him the desired spiritual destiny.