Shloka 25
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
वैश्यस्यैते यदि गुणास्तस्य पठचशतं भवेत् । शूद्रस्यापि विनीतस्य चतुर्भागफलं स्मृतम्
vaiśyasyāite yadi guṇās tasya pañcaśataṁ bhavet | śūdrasyāpi vinītasya caturbhāgaphalaṁ smṛtam |
ພີສະມະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ຖ້າໄວສະຍະ (Vaiśya) ມີຄຸນທຳເຫຼົ່ານີ້ ຜົນບຸນຂອງລາວຖືກນັບເປັນຫ້າຮ້ອຍ (ງົວ) ແມ່ນແຕ່ການກະທຳພາຍນອກຈະເປັນການບໍລິຈາກງົວພຽງໜຶ່ງຕົວ. ແລະສຳລັບຊູດຣະ (Śūdra) ຜູ້ມີວິໄນ ແລະ ຖ່ອມຕົນ ຜົນນັ້ນຖືກຈື່ຈຳວ່າເປັນສ່ວນໜຶ່ງໃນສີ່—ເທົ່າກັບງົວສອງຮ້ອຍຫ້າສິບຕົວ. ຄຳສອນຄື: ຄຸນທຳຂອງຜູ້ໃຫ້—ການຄວບຄຸມຕົນ, ຄວາມຖ່ອມຕົນ, ແລະ ຄວາມປະພຶດຖືກຕ້ອງ—ຍົກຄ່າທາງຈິດວິນຍານຂອງທານ ໃຫ້ເກີນກວ່າມາດຕາວັດທາງວັດຖຸ»។
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The merit of a gift is not determined only by the object given, but by the giver’s inner virtues and discipline; ethical refinement increases the spiritual fruit even for those outside the Brahmin class.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, he explains graded results of cow-gifting: a virtuous Vaiśya gains merit equated to five hundred cows, and a humble, well-disciplined Śūdra gains a quarter-share of the Brahmin-standard merit (stated as two hundred and fifty cows in the received explanation).