Shloka 30
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
इति नृप सतत गवां प्रदाने यवशकलान् सह गोमयै: पिबान: । क्षितितलशयन: शिखी यतात्मा वृष इव राजवृषस्तदा बभूव
iti nṛpa satataṃ gavāṃ pradāne yavaśakalān saha gomayaiḥ pibānaḥ | kṣititalaśayanaḥ śikhī yatātmā vṛṣa iva rājavṛṣas tadā babhūva, nareśvara! |
वैशंपायन म्हणाले—नरेश्वरा! अशा रीतीने राजांमध्ये श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर सतत गोदानात तत्पर राहू लागले; गोमयासह जौचे कण अल्पाहार म्हणून घेत, भूमीवर शयन करत, मन-इंद्रिये संयमित ठेवत. त्यांच्या मस्तकी जटा वाढल्या; त्या काळी ते जणू धर्मस्वरूप, राजवृषभाप्रमाणे तेजस्वी भासू लागले.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights royal dharma expressed through sustained charity (especially go-dāna) and personal austerity: a ruler’s moral authority is strengthened by self-restraint, simplicity, and commitment to giving rather than indulgence.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s disciplined way of life during this period: he is continually engaged in donating cows, eats only scant barley (even with cow-dung, emphasizing extreme simplicity), sleeps on the bare ground, grows matted hair, and is portrayed as shining like Dharma—‘a bull among kings.’