Shloka 25
गवां लोकवर्णनं तथा गोप्रदानफलश्रुतिः
Description of the ‘World of Cows’ and the Stated Fruits of Cow-Gift
भीष्म उवाच असदृवृत्ताय पापाय लुब्धायानृतवादिने । हव्यकव्यव्यपेताय न देया गौ: कथंचन
bhīṣma uvāca asadṛvṛttāya pāpāya lubdhāyānṛtavādine | havyakavyavyapetāya na deyā gauḥ kathaṃcana ||
Bhīṣma disse: Nunca se deve dar uma vaca a quem tem conduta imprópria—pecador, ganancioso e dado à falsidade—nem a quem é desprovido de reverência pelas oferendas sagradas (havis) e pelos ritos aos ancestrais (kavya).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that gifts—especially a cow, a high-merit gift—must be given with discernment: one should not donate to recipients who are immoral, greedy, untruthful, or disrespectful toward sacred and ancestral rites, because such giving undermines the ethical purpose of dāna.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma lays down a rule about proper recipients of gifts, warning that a cow should not be bestowed upon unworthy persons characterized by bad conduct, falsehood, greed, and neglect of ritual obligations.