Shloka 5
गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्
Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows
ये दोषा यादृशाश्ैव द्विजयज्ञोपघातके । विक्रये चापहारे च ते दोषा वै स्मृता: प्रभो
ye doṣā yādṛśāś caiva dvija-yajñopaghātake | vikraye cāpahāre ca te doṣā vai smṛtāḥ prabho ||
பிரபோ! ஒரு பிராமணனின் யாகத்தைச் சிதைக்கும் ஒருவன் எத்தகைய, எவ்வளவு பாவங்களை அடைகிறானோ—அதே பாவங்கள் பிறருடைய பசுவைத் திருடுவதிலும் விற்பதிலும் உண்டென்று ஸ்மிருதிகள் கூறுகின்றன।
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse equates the moral gravity of harming a Brāhmaṇa’s sacrificial rite with the wrongdoing involved in stealing or selling another person’s cow, stressing that certain acts undermine dharma and social-religious order to a comparable degree.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instruction setting, Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha) is teaching about ethical transgressions and their consequences, classifying the ‘doṣa’ (fault/sin) attached to specific acts—here, damage to sacrifice and the theft/sale of another’s cow.