Shloka 9
गोप्रदानविधिः (Gopradāna-vidhi) — Procedure and Praise of Cow-Gifting
कियत्कालं प्रदानस्य दाता च फलमश्ुते । कं बहुविध॑ दानं स्यादल्पमपि वा कथम्
kiyatkālaṃ pradānasya dātā ca phalam aśnute | kaṃ bahuvidhaṃ dānaṃ syād alpam api vā katham |
ਦਾਤਾ ਦਾਨ ਦਾ ਫਲ ਉੱਥੇ ਕਿੰਨੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਤੱਕ ਭੋਗਦਾ ਹੈ? ‘ਬਹੁ-ਵਿਧ ਦਾਨ’ ਕਿਹੜਾ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ? ਜਾਂ ਥੋੜ੍ਹਾ ਜਿਹਾ ਦਾਨ ਵੀ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਸੰਭਵ ਤੇ ਅਰਥਪੂਰਨ ਬਣਦਾ ਹੈ?
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: giving (dāna) is evaluated not only by quantity but by its ethical quality and consequences—how long its merit endures, what makes giving ‘manifold’ (varied and appropriate), and how even a small gift can be significant when rightly offered.
Śakra (Indra) asks a set of clarifying questions about dāna-dharma—its duration of reward, the forms that count as diverse giving, and the conditions under which even a modest offering becomes valid and fruitful—prompting the subsequent instruction on charity.