Shloka 44
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
दत्त्वा धेनुं सुव्रतां साधुदोहां कल्याणवत्सामपलायिनीं च । यावन्ति रोमाणि भवन्ति तस्या- स्तावन्ति वर्षाणि भवन्त्यमुत्र
dattvā dhenuṃ suvratāṃ sādhudohāṃ kalyāṇavatsām apalāyinīṃ ca | yāvanti romāṇi bhavanti tasyās tāvanti varṣāṇi bhavanty amutra ||
भीष्म म्हणाले— जी गाय सुव्रता, सरळ-साधी, सहजपणे चांगली दूध देणारी, सुंदर वासरू असलेली आणि दोर तोडून पळून न जाणारी आहे—अशी धेनू दान केल्यास तिच्या अंगावर जितके केस आहेत तितकी वर्षे दाता परलोकात सुख भोगतो.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.