Shloka 20
गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung
सादे चर्मणि भुञज्जीत निरीक्षेद् वारुणीं दिशम् । वाग्यत: सर्पिषा भूमौ गवां पुष्टिं सदाश्नुते
sārdre carmaṇi bhuñjīta nirīkṣed vāruṇīṃ diśam | vāgyataḥ sarpiṣā bhūmau gavāṃ puṣṭiṃ sadāśnute ||
Бхишма сказал: «Пусть человек принимает пищу, сидя на увлажнённой коровьей шкуре и обращая взор к западной стороне. Храня молчание, пусть, сидя на земле, вкушает гхи. Этим обрядом постоянно умножаются благополучие и тучность стад».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma prescribes a small, disciplined observance—sitting on a moistened cowhide, facing west, maintaining silence, and consuming ghee—as a dharmic act believed to support the continual nourishment and increase of cattle, emphasizing restraint and reverence toward cow-related sustenance.
Within Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, he gives Yudhiṣṭhira a specific rule-like practice (vidhi) connected with cattle welfare, describing the posture, direction, and restraint to be observed and the resulting benefit (cattle thriving).