Shloka 191
Right Conduct, Offenses Against Brāhmaṇas, Truthfulness, and the Greatness of the Cow
Go-Māhātmya
गवां च हरणं कृत्वा मृते गोरथवत्सके । क्रिमिपूर्णे स कूपे च तिष्ठेदाभूतसंप्लवं
gavāṃ ca haraṇaṃ kṛtvā mṛte gorathavatsake | krimipūrṇe sa kūpe ca tiṣṭhedābhūtasaṃplavaṃ
ผู้ใดลักโค ครั้นเมื่อโค รถศึก และลูกโคถึงความพินาศ ผู้นั้นต้องอยู่ในบ่อที่เต็มไปด้วยหนอน จนถึงภูตสัมปลวะ คือมหาปรลัยแห่งสรรพสัตว์
Unspecified (narratorial/legal-penal prescription within the Adhyaya)
Concept: Cow-theft is a grievous adharma with long-duration consequences; karmic law is inexorable and proportionate.
Application: Avoid exploitation and theft; cultivate integrity in livelihood; repair harm through restitution and protective service to vulnerable beings.
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Type: celestial_realm
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A dark, narrow well yawns open, its stone walls slick and crawling with worms; the condemned figure clings to the damp sides, trapped in suffocating gloom. Above the rim, a distant pastoral scene of cows and sunlight is visible like a lost world, heightening the moral contrast.","primary_figures":["cow-thief (condemned soul)","yamadūtas (optional, shadowy)"],"setting":"A subterranean, worm-infested well with oppressive stone textures; faint glimpse of surface pasture far above.","lighting_mood":"moonlit","color_palette":["charcoal black","moss green","mud brown","sickly yellow","ashen gray"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: dramatic moral tableau with a dark well rendered in stylized architecture, gold-leaf used sparingly as a harsh rim highlight, yamadūtas with ornate but fearsome crowns, the upper border showing a bright cow-pasture vignette as contrast, rich reds muted into maroons.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: claustrophobic vertical composition of a deep well, delicate but unsettling detailing of worms and damp stones, cool gray-blue shadows, a tiny bright pastoral strip at the top with cows, refined linework emphasizing moral distance.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: bold outlines and intense contrast, the well as a dark cylindrical frame, the condemned figure stylized with expressive eyes, yamadūtas in red-black tones, minimal background, temple-wall austerity.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: allegorical composition—central dark well encircled by a border of withered lotus motifs, upper register showing cows amid blooming lotuses, deep indigo ground with stark ochre highlights, moral didacticism in devotional textile idiom."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"dramatic","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"fast-dramatic","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["low thunder rumble","echoing drops of water","chains clinking","ominous silence"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: गोरथवत्सके = गो-रथ-वत्सके (समास); तिष्ठेदाभूतसंप्लवं = तिष्ठेत् + आ-भूत-संप्लवम् (त् + आ → दा in sandhi: तिष्ठेत् + आ → तिष्ठेद् आ...).
FAQs
It warns that stealing cows (a grave dharmic offense) leads to severe, long-lasting suffering, expressed here as confinement in a worm-infested well until cosmic dissolution.
Cows are linked with sustenance, sacrifice, and social-religious welfare; harming or stealing them is portrayed as disrupting dharma and communal stability, thus attracting heavy karmic consequences.
It indicates an extremely long duration—until the dissolution of beings/elements—used as a hyperbolic Purāṇic measure to stress the gravity of the offense.