Shloka 5

Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ

Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers

Devanagari script

असुर्या नाम ते लोका गां दत्त्वा तानू न गच्छति । पीतोदकां जग्धतृणां नष्टक्षीरां निरिन्द्रियाम्‌

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | asuryā nāma te lokā gāṁ dattvā tānū na gacchati | pītodakāṁ jagdhatṛṇāṁ naṣṭakṣīrāṁ nirindriyām |

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «Есть миры, именуемые “Асурья” — безсолнечные, мрачные области. Тот, кто дарует корову в надлежащем состоянии, не попадает туда. Но если кто-то преподносит корову, оставленную без воды и корма, с испорченным молоком, у которой угасли чувства и сила — старую и больную, — то такой “дар” лишь причиняет напрасные страдания брахману-получателю, а сам даритель низвергается в страшный ад».

Word by Word

• असुर्याः: sunless (dark) [worlds]
• असुर्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: असुर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• नाम: by name / called
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)

• ते: those
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• लोकाः: worlds
• लोकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गाम्: a cow
• गाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दत्त्वा: having given
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral)

• तान्: them (those worlds)
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• गच्छति: goes
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: Present, Indicative, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पीतोदकाम्: whose water has been drunk (i.e., drained of water)
• पीतोदकाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पीत-उदक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• जग्धतृणाम्: whose grass has been eaten (i.e., with fodder consumed)
• जग्धतृणाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जग्ध-तृण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• नष्टक्षीराम्: whose milk is lost/ruined
• नष्टक्षीराम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नष्ट-क्षीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• निरिन्द्रियाम्: devoid of senses/strength
• निरिन्द्रियाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्-इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Asuryā lokāḥ (sunless/dark worlds)
• Go (cow)
• Brāhmaṇa (implied recipient in the ethical explanation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Charity must be meaningful and non-harmful: donating an unfit, suffering cow is not true dāna but a burden that harms the recipient and brings negative karmic consequences to the giver.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, instructing on dāna-dharma in the Anushasana Parva, contrasts proper cow-gifting (which protects one from dark afterlife realms) with the unethical act of giving a debilitated cow, which leads to suffering and hellish results.