Shloka 176
अदेया नन्दिनीयं वै राज्येनापि तवानघ । वसिष्ठजीने कहा--अनघ! देवता, अतिथि और पितरोंकी पूजा एवं यज्ञके हविष्य आदिके लिये यह दुधारू गाय नन्दिनी अपने यहाँ रहती है, इसे तुम्हारा राज्य लेकर भी नहीं दिया जा सकता
adeyā nandinīyaṁ vai rājyena api tavānagha |
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “O ikaw na walang dungis, ang bakang si Nandinī ay hindi maaaring ipamigay—kahit kapalit pa ang buong kaharian mo. Nanatili siya rito para sa mga banal na gawain: pagsamba sa mga diyos, paggalang sa mga panauhin, mga ritwal para sa mga ninuno, at mga handog (havis) sa paghahandog na yajña. Kaya’t kahit ang paghahari ay hindi makabibili sa kanya.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Certain things are protected by dharma and sacred obligation and therefore cannot be traded, even for immense worldly gain. Vasiṣṭha frames Nandinī as integral to worship, hospitality, ancestral rites, and sacrifice—duties that uphold social and cosmic order—so political power cannot override religious-ethical responsibility.
Vasiṣṭha refuses to part with his cow Nandinī. He declares that she is indispensable for ritual and moral duties (devatā-pūjā, honoring guests, pitṛ-kārya, and sacrificial offerings), and thus cannot be surrendered even if offered a kingdom in return.