Shloka 14
Suvarṇa-dāna: Kārttikeya’s Origin and the Defeat of Tāraka (सुवर्णदान-प्रसङ्गे कार्त्तिकेय-उत्पत्ति तथा तारकवधः)
“भगवन्! पितामह! गोलोक समस्त देवताओं और लोकपालोंके ऊपर क्यों है? मैं इसे जानना चाहता हूँ ।।
bhagavan pitāmaha golokaḥ samasta-devatānāṁ loka-pālānāṁ copariṣṭāt kutaḥ? etad aham jñātum icchāmi. kiṁ tapo brahmacaryaṁ vā gobhiḥ kṛtam iha īśvara, yena devānām upariṣṭād arajasaḥ sukhaṁ vasanti?
भगवन् पितामह गोलोकः समस्तदेवलोकपालानामुपरि कुतः। एतदहं वेदितुमिच्छामि। प्रभो, गोभिः किमिह तपो ब्रह्मचर्यं वा कृतं यतः रजोरहिताः सन्तो देवेभ्योऽप्युपरि स्थाने सुखं वसन्ति॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Goloka as a realm attained through extraordinary purity and merit: freedom from rajas (passionate agitation) and the power of tapas and disciplined conduct. It implies that spiritual status is determined by ethical-spiritual qualities and accumulated merit, not merely by rank among celestial beings.
Bhishma, in discourse, asks an elder authority to explain why Goloka is placed above even the gods and world-guardians, and what spiritual practices the cows performed to gain such a high, passionless, blissful abode.