Shloka 16

Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa

Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation

Devanagari script

नाम संकीर्तयेत्‌ तस्या यथासंख्योत्तरं स वै । “जो गौके निष्क्रयरूपसे उसका मूल्य

Transliteration

nāma saṅkīrtayet tasyā yathāsaṅkhyottaraṃ sa vai |

Translation

ആ (പ്രതിസ്ഥാപന-ഗോദാന) ദാനത്തിന്റെ നിശ്ചിത നാമം പറഞ്ഞ ക്രമപ്രകാരം സംकल्पസമയത്ത് ഉച്ചരിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• नाम: name
• नाम: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• संकीर्तयेत्: should proclaim/recite
• संकीर्तयेत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + कीर्तय् (causative of √कीर्त्/√कीर्)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तस्याः: of her/of that (f.)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• यथा: as/according to
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• सङ्ख्या: by number; in enumeration
• सङ्ख्या: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सङ्ख्या
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• उत्तरम्: in order; following; subsequent
• उत्तरम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्तर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• go-dāna (gift of a cow)
• substitute gifts (cow’s price/value, cloth, gold)
• Urdhvāsyā (name of the ‘cow’ when value is given)
• Bhavitavyā (name of the ‘cow’ when cloth is given)
• Vaiṣṇavī (name of the ‘cow’ when gold is given)
• brāhmaṇa (recipient)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That charitable giving should be performed with correct intention and formal declaration: even when substituting a cow with its value, cloth, or gold, one should ritually name the gift in the proper sequence so it is treated as a valid go-dāna in dharmic terms.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing (as a dharma-teacher) on the procedure for ‘cow-gift redemption’—how to make a substitute donation and how to pronounce the appropriate designated names during the saṅkalpa so the recipient may accept it as a proper cow-gift.