Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 25
गां प्रयच्छति विप्रेभ्यस्तत्फलं शृणु पाण्डव । यावन्ति तस्या रोमाणि तत्प्रसूतिकुलेषु च
gāṃ prayacchati viprebhyastatphalaṃ śṛṇu pāṇḍava | yāvanti tasyā romāṇi tatprasūtikuleṣu ca
हे पाण्डव, विप्रांना गाय दान केल्याचे फळ ऐक—त्या गायीचे जितके रोम आहेत आणि तिच्या अपत्यांच्या वंशपरंपरेतील कुलांमध्ये जितकी गणना आहे, तितके महान पुण्य सांगितले आहे।
Mārkaṇḍeya (to Yudhiṣṭhira)
Tirtha: Revā-tīrtha (contextual)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pāṇḍava
Scene: A donor leads a decorated cow (garlanded, with cloth and bell) to a Brāhmaṇa near a riverbank; the narrator addresses ‘Pāṇḍava’ as the merit is proclaimed, with symbolic imagery of countless hairs turning into streams of light (puṇya).
FAQs
Charity performed with dharmic intent—especially go-dāna—multiplies merit beyond ordinary measure.
The broader context is Revā Khaṇḍa (Narmadā sacred geography), praising tīrtha-related merit through acts like dāna.
Go-dāna—donating a cow to Brāhmaṇas.