Shloka 17
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
एवमेतान् गुणान् विद्याद् गवादीनां यथाक्रमम् । गोप्रदाता समाप्रोति समस्तानष्टमे क्रमे
Bhīṣma uvāca: evam etān guṇān vidyād gavādīnāṁ yathākramam | gopradātā samāpnoti samastān aṣṭame krame ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “Kaya dapat maunawaan, ayon sa wastong pagkakasunod, ang mga kabutihang ito na kaugnay ng mga baka at ng mga kaugnay na handog. Ang nag-aalay ng baka ay nakakamit ang buong gantimpala, at ang gantimpalang iyon ay nagiging ganap na mabisa sa ikawalong hakbang (kapag ang brāhmaṇa na tumanggap ay umaalis na dala ang handog).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that the ethical and religious merit of gifts—especially cow-gift (go-dāna)—should be understood in an ordered way, and that the fruit of such giving is immediate and assured, symbolically said to arise by the recipient’s eighth step.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma, he summarizes the ordered results of cow-related gifts and emphasizes the potency of go-dāna: once a brāhmaṇa accepts the cow and departs, the donor’s merit is considered to have taken effect without delay.