Shloka 12

Devanagari script

कपिलानां सहस्राणि यो दद्यात्‌ पजचविंशतिम्‌ | दोग्ध्रीणां स च पापेभ्य: सर्वेभ्यो विप्रमुच्यते

Transliteration

kapilānāṁ sahasrāṇi yo dadyāt pañcaviṁśatim | dogdhrīṇāṁ sa ca pāpebhyaḥ sarvebhyo vipramucyate ||

Translation

ഇരുപത്തയ്യായിരം കപില (ചുവപ്പുനിറമുള്ള) പാലുതരുന്ന പശുക്കളെ ദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നവൻ സർവ്വ പാപങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നു വിമുക്തനാകുന്നു.

Word by Word

कपिलानाम्of tawny cows

सहस्राणिthousands

यःwho

दद्यात्should give

पञ्चविंशतिम्twenty-five

दोग्ध्रीणाम्of milch-cows (milk-givers)

सःhe

पापेभ्यःfrom sins

सर्वेभ्यःfrom all

विप्रमुच्यतेis completely freed

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

kapilā (tawny cows)

dogdhrī (milch-cows)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that large-scale, life-supporting charity—specifically gifting milch-cows—functions as a potent dharmic act that purifies wrongdoing and releases one from the burden of sins.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Vyāsa states a rule of merit: a person who donates twenty-five thousand tawny milch-cows attains freedom from all sins, illustrating the text’s emphasis on dāna as a means to restoration and peace.