Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 117
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
अथ गव्यं पयस्तात कदाचित् प्राशितं मया,तात! उसके पहले एक दिन मैंने गायका दूध पीया था। पिताजी यज्ञके समय एक बड़े भारी धनी कुटुम्बीके घर मुझे ले गये थे। वहाँ दिव्य सुरभी गाय दूध दे रही थी
atha gavyam payas tāta kadācit prāśitaṃ mayā | tāta! uske pūrve eka dina mayā gāyāḥ dugdhaṃ pītaṃ āsīt | pitā yajñasamaye ekaṃ mahādhaniṃ kuṭumbinaṃ gṛhaṃ māṃ nītavān | tatra divyā surabhī gāvaḥ payaḥ adadāt |
Sinabi ni Vāsudeva: “Anak ko, minsan ay nakainom ako ng gatas ng baka. Noong una, sa isang araw, sa panahon ng paghahandog (yajña), dinala ako ng aking ama sa bahay ng isang napakayamang maybahay. Doon, isang kahanga-hangang bakang Surabhī ang nagbibigay ng gatas.”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames cow’s milk and the cow as sacred gifts encountered within a yajña-context, highlighting dharmic values of reverence, purity, and the ethical weight of what one consumes and receives—especially when connected to ritual and hospitality.
Vāsudeva recounts a personal memory: as a child he once drank cow’s milk when his father took him, during a sacrifice, to the home of a very wealthy householder, where a divine Surabhī cow was producing milk.