Shloka 20
गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung
सादे चर्मणि भुञज्जीत निरीक्षेद् वारुणीं दिशम् । वाग्यत: सर्पिषा भूमौ गवां पुष्टिं सदाश्नुते
sārdre carmaṇi bhuñjīta nirīkṣed vāruṇīṃ diśam | vāgyataḥ sarpiṣā bhūmau gavāṃ puṣṭiṃ sadāśnute ||
ビーシュマは言った。「湿らせた牛皮の上に坐して食事をとり、西の方角を見よ。言葉を慎み、地に坐してギーを食せ。かくのごとき行によって、牛の繁栄と滋養は常に増しゆく。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma prescribes a small, disciplined observance—sitting on a moistened cowhide, facing west, maintaining silence, and consuming ghee—as a dharmic act believed to support the continual nourishment and increase of cattle, emphasizing restraint and reverence toward cow-related sustenance.
Within Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, he gives Yudhiṣṭhira a specific rule-like practice (vidhi) connected with cattle welfare, describing the posture, direction, and restraint to be observed and the resulting benefit (cattle thriving).