Shloka 6
Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ
Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers
जरारोगोपसम्पन्नां जीर्णा वापीमिवाजलाम् | दत्त्वा तम: प्रविशति द्विजं क्लेशेन योजयेत्
jarārogopasampannāṁ jīrṇā vāpīm ivājalām | dattvā tamaḥ praviśati dvijaṁ kleśena yojayet ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kapag ipinagkaloob ang isang bakang dinapuan ng katandaan at karamdaman—wasak na parang balong tuyô at giba—ang nagbigay ay mahuhulog sa kadiliman (isang mabagsik na impiyerno). Ang gayong handog ay pasanin lamang sa brāhmaṇa na tumatanggap at nagdudulot ng hirap. Kaya ang kawanggawa ay dapat angkop at kapaki-pakinabang; ang pagbibigay ng walang silbi o nakapapahina ay hindi tunay na kabutihan kundi sanhi ng kasalanan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be appropriate and beneficial. Donating something useless—like a cow ruined by age and disease—does not create merit; it harms the recipient and leads the giver toward demerit and a ‘dark’ fate.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dāna-dharma, he warns that giving a decrepit, diseased cow is ethically wrong because it imposes hardship on the brāhmaṇa recipient; such a ‘gift’ is condemned and said to lead to darkness/hell.