Shloka 37
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
अभावे यो गवां दद्यात् तिलधेनुं यतव्रत: । दुर्गात् स तारितो थेन्वा क्षीरनद्यां प्रमोदते
abhāve yo gavāṁ dadyāt tiladhenuṁ yatavrataḥ | durgāt sa tārito dhenuvā kṣīranadyāṁ pramodate ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—जो संयमी व व्रतनिष्ठ पुरुष, गायींच्या अभावात तिलधेनूचे दान करतो, तो त्या धेनूच्या पुण्यप्रभावाने दुर्गम संकटातून तरून जातो आणि क्षीरधारा वाहणाऱ्या नदीच्या तीरावर आनंद भोगतो.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when ideal resources are unavailable, a disciplined person should still uphold dāna-dharma through an appropriate substitute; sincere charity, performed with restraint and right intention, becomes a means of protection from संकट and yields auspicious posthumous reward.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on gifts and धर्म, he explains the फल (result) of donating a tiladhenu when cows cannot be obtained: the donor is metaphorically ‘carried across’ dangers by that merit and attains a blissful realm symbolized by a river of milk.