Shloka 31
Viṣṇu-sahasranāma—Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Recitation (विष्णोर्नामसहस्रम्)
इसलिये विशेष यत्न करके दीप और जलका दान करना चाहिये। विशेषतः पुष्कर तीर्थमें जो वेदोंके पारंगत विद्वान् ब्राह्मणको कपिला दान करते हैं, उन्हें उस दानका जो फल मिलता है, उसे सुनो। उसे साँड़ों-लहित सौ गौओंके दानका शाश्वत फल प्राप्त होता है ।।
pāpaṃ karma ca yat kiñcid brahmahatyāsamaṃ bhavet | śodhayet kapilā ghoṣā pradattaṃ gośataṃ yathā ||
Yama disse: Por isso, deve-se empenhar com especial cuidado na doação de lâmpadas e de água. Sobretudo no tīrtha de Puṣkara, aqueles que oferecem uma vaca kapilā a um brāhmaṇa erudito, versado nos Vedas—ouvi o fruto desse dom—alcançam um mérito eterno, como o de doar cem vacas com seus touros. E qualquer ato pecaminoso—mesmo um comparável ao grave pecado de matar um brāhmaṇa—pode ser purificado pela doação de uma vaca kapilā, assim como se obtém o fruto meritório de doar cem vacas.
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that intentional acts of charity—especially the gift of a kapilā cow—are presented as powerful means of purification, capable of cleansing even extremely grave sins, and yielding enduring religious merit comparable to gifting a hundred cows.
Yama is instructing about the ethical and ritual potency of dāna (gift-giving). In this section he highlights cow-gifting (kapilā) as an expiatory act and links it to the broader exhortation to give beneficial gifts such as lamps and water, particularly in sacred contexts.