Shloka 30
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
इति नृप सतत गवां प्रदाने यवशकलान् सह गोमयै: पिबान: । क्षितितलशयन: शिखी यतात्मा वृष इव राजवृषस्तदा बभूव,नरेश्वर! राजाओंमें श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर उन दिनों सदा गोदानके लिये उद्यत होकर गोबरके साथ जौके कणोंका आहार करते हुए मन और इन्द्रियोंके संयमपूर्वक पृथ्वीपर शयन करने लगे। उनके सिरपर जटाएँ बढ़ गयीं और वे साक्षात् धर्मके समान देदीप्यमान होने लगे
iti nṛpa satataṃ gavāṃ pradāne yavaśakalān saha gomayaiḥ pibānaḥ | kṣititalaśayanaḥ śikhī yatātmā vṛṣa iva rājavṛṣas tadā babhūva, nareśvara! |
वैशम्पायन उवाच—एवं नृपः सततं गवां प्रदाने तत्परः, गोमयेन सह यवशकलान् अल्पाहारतया भुञ्जानः, क्षितितले शयानः, यतात्मा, शिखीव जटाधरः, तदा राजवृषः वृष इव धर्मस्वरूपः प्रभासमानो बभूव।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights royal dharma expressed through sustained charity (especially go-dāna) and personal austerity: a ruler’s moral authority is strengthened by self-restraint, simplicity, and commitment to giving rather than indulgence.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s disciplined way of life during this period: he is continually engaged in donating cows, eats only scant barley (even with cow-dung, emphasizing extreme simplicity), sleeps on the bare ground, grows matted hair, and is portrayed as shining like Dharma—‘a bull among kings.’