Shloka 9
गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung
सायं प्रातश्न सततं होमकाले महाद्युते । गावो ददति वै हौम्यमृषिभ्य: पुरुषर्षभ,“महातेजस्वी पुरुषप्रवर! प्रातः:काल और सायंकाल सदा होमके समय ऋषियोंको गौएँ ही हवनीय पदार्थ (घृत आदि) देती हैं
sāyaṃ prātaś ca satataṃ homakāle mahādyute | gāvo dadati vai haumyam ṛṣibhyaḥ puruṣarṣabha ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “O ikaw na may dakilang ningning, O toro sa hanay ng mga tao! Sa oras ng handog sa umaga at sa dapithapon—tunay, sa bawat wastong sandali ng homa—ang mga baka mismo ang nagbibigay ng mga bagay na inihahandog (gaya ng ghee at iba pa) para sa mga rishi.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cows are portrayed as direct supporters of dharma because their products—especially ghee—sustain the daily homa/agnihotra of sages and householders; honoring and protecting them is thus linked to maintaining Vedic duty and moral order.
Bhīṣma, instructing a ‘great-lustrous’ listener (typically Yudhiṣṭhira in this parva), explains the practical religious role of cows: at morning and evening homa times they ‘provide’ the necessary oblation materials for ṛṣis.