Shloka 18
Gavāṃ Māhātmya — Go-dāna, Yajña-ādhāra, and Goloka
Brahmā–Indra–Surabhi Itihāsa
सवत्सां पीवरीं दत्त्वा दृतिकण्ठामलंकृताम् | वैश्वदेवमसम्बाध॑ स्थान श्रेष्ठ प्रपद्यते
savatsāṁ pīvarīṁ dattvā dṛtikaṇṭhām alaṅkṛtām | vaiśvadevam asambādhaṁ sthānaṁ śreṣṭhaṁ prapadyate ||
ਜੋ ਪਾਲੀ-ਪੋਸੀ, ਵੱਛੇ ਸਮੇਤ ਗਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗਲ-ਢੱਕਣ/ਗਲ-ਬੰਨ੍ਹ ਨਾਲ ਸਜਾ ਕੇ ਅਲੰਕ੍ਰਿਤ ਕਰਕੇ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਨੂੰ ਦਾਨ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਬਿਨਾ ਰੁਕਾਵਟ ਵਿਸ਼੍ਵੇਦੇਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਸ਼੍ਰੇਸ਼ਠ ਲੋਕ ਨੂੰ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dāna done with care and honor—here, gifting a healthy cow with her calf, properly adorned, to a brāhmaṇa—produces great puṇya and leads to an unobstructed attainment of an excellent heavenly realm (associated with the Viśvedevas).
In Vasiṣṭha’s instruction on gifts and their fruits, he specifies a particular form of cow-gift (a thriving cow with calf, adorned and fitted with a neck-piece) and states the spiritual result: reaching the superior, unhindered abode connected with the Viśvedevas.