Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 79 Shloka 16 - Mahabharata | Tamil | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 16

Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa

Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation

Devanagari script

नाम संकीर्तयेत्‌ तस्या यथासंख्योत्तरं स वै । “जो गौके निष्क्रयरूपसे उसका मूल्य

Transliteration

nāma saṅkīrtayet tasyā yathāsaṅkhyottaraṃ sa vai |

Translation

அந்த (மாற்று-கோ தான) தானத்தின் நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்ட பெயரை, கூறப்பட்ட வரிசைப்படி, சங்கல்பத்தின் போது உச்சரிக்க வேண்டும்.

Word by Word

नामname

संकीर्तयेत्should proclaim/recite

तस्याःof her/of that (f.)

यथाas/according to

सङ्ख्याby number; in enumeration

उत्तरम्in order; following; subsequent

सःhe

वैindeed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

go-dāna (gift of a cow)

substitute gifts (cow’s price/value, cloth, gold)

Urdhvāsyā (name of the ‘cow’ when value is given)

Bhavitavyā (name of the ‘cow’ when cloth is given)

Vaiṣṇavī (name of the ‘cow’ when gold is given)

brāhmaṇa (recipient)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That charitable giving should be performed with correct intention and formal declaration: even when substituting a cow with its value, cloth, or gold, one should ritually name the gift in the proper sequence so it is treated as a valid go-dāna in dharmic terms.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing (as a dharma-teacher) on the procedure for ‘cow-gift redemption’—how to make a substitute donation and how to pronounce the appropriate designated names during the saṅkalpa so the recipient may accept it as a proper cow-gift.