Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 76 Shloka 44 - Mahabharata | Kannada | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 44

गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्

Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows

Devanagari script

दत्त्वा धेनुं सुव्रतां साधुदोहां कल्याणवत्सामपलायिनीं च । यावन्ति रोमाणि भवन्ति तस्या- स्तावन्ति वर्षाणि भवन्त्यमुत्र

Transliteration

dattvā dhenuṃ suvratāṃ sādhudohāṃ kalyāṇavatsām apalāyinīṃ ca | yāvanti romāṇi bhavanti tasyās tāvanti varṣāṇi bhavanty amutra ||

Translation

ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ಯಾರು ಸುಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞೆಯುಳ್ಳ, ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಹಾಲು ಕೊಡುವ, ಸುಂದರ ಕರು ಹೊಂದಿರುವ, ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಹಾಕಿದ ಕಯಿತು ಮುರಿದು ಓಡಿಹೋಗದ ಧೇನುವನ್ನು ದಾನಮಾಡುತ್ತಾನೋ, ಅವನು ಆ ಹಸುವಿನ ದೇಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ರೋಮಗಳಿವೆಯೋ ಅಷ್ಟು ವರ್ಷಗಳು ಪರಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಖವನ್ನು ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

Word by Word

दत्त्वाhaving given

धेनुम्a cow

सुव्रताम्of good conduct/observance

साधु-दोहाम्easy to milk / yielding milk well

कल्याण-वत्साम्having a fine calf

अपलायिनीम्not running away / not prone to flee

चand

यावन्तिas many as

रोमाणिhairs (on the body)

भवन्तिare / exist

तस्याःof her (of that cow)

तावन्तिso many (that many)

वर्षाणिyears

भवन्तिare / become

अमुत्रthere (in the other world)

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (Pitamah)

cow (dhenu)

calf (vatsa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the dharmic value of dāna: gifting a well-kept, useful, and non-troublesome cow is praised as a highly meritorious act, yielding prolonged happiness in the afterlife proportional to the cow’s hairs.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and gifts (dāna-dharma), he specifies the ideal qualities of a cow suitable for donation and states the spiritual reward that accrues to the donor in the next world.