Shloka 30
गोप्रदानगुणाः तथा कपिलागोविधानम्
Merits of Cow-Gift and the Origin-Account of Kapilā Cows
योअग्रं भक्त किंचिदप्राश्य दद्याद् गोभ्यो नित्यं गोव्रती सत्यवादी । शान्तो5लुब्धो गोसहस्रस्य पुण्यं संवत्सरेणाप्लुयात् सत्यशील:
yo 'graṃ bhaktaṃ kiñcid aprāśya dadyād gobhyo nityaṃ govratī satyavādī | śānto 'lubdho gosahasrasya puṇyaṃ saṃvatsareṇāpluyāt satyaśīlaḥ ||
Бхишма сказал: «Кто, прежде чем вкусить свою пищу, ежедневно сначала отдаёт малую долю на корм коровам — соблюдая обет служения коровам, говоря правду, пребывая в спокойствии и без алчности, — тот, стойкий в истине, в течение года обретает заслугу, равную дарению тысячи коров».
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Daily, disciplined compassion—offering a first portion of one’s food to cows—combined with truthfulness, calmness, and freedom from greed, is praised as a powerful dharmic practice, yielding merit comparable to great gifts.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he commends a specific observance: giving cows a small offering before one eats, and he states the spiritual reward of this practice in terms of the merit of a large-scale cow-donation.