Shloka 44

Devanagari script

दत्त्वा धेनुं सुव्रतां साधुदोहां कल्याणवत्सामपलायिनीं च । यावन्ति रोमाणि भवन्ति तस्या- स्तावन्ति वर्षाणि भवन्त्यमुत्र,जो गौ सीधी-सूधी हो, सुगमतासे अच्छी तरह दूध दुहा लेती हो, जिसका बछड़ा भी सुन्दर हो तथा जो बन्धन तुड़ाकर भागनेवाली न हो, ऐसी गौका दान करनेसे उसके शरीरमें जितने रोएँ होते हैं, उतने वर्षोतक दाता परलोकमें सुख भोगता है

Transliteration

dattvā dhenuṃ suvratāṃ sādhudohāṃ kalyāṇavatsām apalāyinīṃ ca | yāvanti romāṇi bhavanti tasyās tāvanti varṣāṇi bhavanty amutra ||

Translation

Bhīṣma disse: “Se alguém dá em caridade uma vaca de bons votos—dócil, fácil de ordenhar e que dá bom leite, com um belo bezerro, e que não foge rompendo a amarra—então, por tantos anos quantos pelos houver em seu corpo, por tantos anos o doador desfruta de felicidade no mundo do além.”

Word by Word

दत्त्वाhaving given

धेनुम्a cow

सुव्रताम्of good conduct/observance

साधु-दोहाम्easy to milk / yielding milk well

कल्याण-वत्साम्having a fine calf

अपलायिनीम्not running away / not prone to flee

चand

यावन्तिas many as

रोमाणिhairs (on the body)

भवन्तिare / exist

तस्याःof her (of that cow)

तावन्तिso many (that many)

वर्षाणिyears

भवन्तिare / become

अमुत्रthere (in the other world)

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (Pitamah)

cow (dhenu)

calf (vatsa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the dharmic value of dāna: gifting a well-kept, useful, and non-troublesome cow is praised as a highly meritorious act, yielding prolonged happiness in the afterlife proportional to the cow’s hairs.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and gifts (dāna-dharma), he specifies the ideal qualities of a cow suitable for donation and states the spiritual reward that accrues to the donor in the next world.