Shloka 21

Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa

Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation

Devanagari script

“जो इच्छानुसार दूध देनेवाली धेनुका दान करता है, वह मानो समस्त पार्थिव भोगोंका एक साथ ही दान कर देता है। जब एक गौके दानका ऐसा माहात्म्य है तब हव्य-कव्यकी राशिसे सुशोभित होनेवाली बहुत-सी गौओंका यदि विधिपूर्वक दान किया जाय तो कितना अधिक फल हो सकता है? नौजवान बैलोंका दान उन गौओंसे भी अधिक पुण्यदायक होता है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | yo icchānusāraṃ dugdha-dāyinīṃ dhenukāṃ dānaṃ karoti sa mānaḥ sarvān pārthiva-bhogān ekataḥ eva dānaṃ karoti | yadā ekasyā go-dānasya evaṃ māhātmyaṃ tadā havya-kavya-rāśibhiḥ suśobhitā bahvyaḥ gāvaḥ yadi vidhi-pūrvakaṃ dīyante tarhi kīdṛśaṃ mahā-phalaṃ syāt | yuvā-balikānāṃ dānaṃ tābhyaḥ api gābhyaḥ adhikaṃ puṇya-dāyakam iti |

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—جو شخص اپنی خواہش کے مطابق دودھ دینے والی کامدھینو جیسی دھینو کا دان کرتا ہے، وہ گویا ایک ہی دان سے تمام زمینی لذتوں کا دان کر دیتا ہے۔ جب ایک گائے کے دان کی یہ عظمت ہے تو پھر ہویہ-کویہ (دیوتاؤں اور پِتروں کے لیے موزوں نذرانوں) سے آراستہ بہت سی گایوں کو اگر مقررہ طریقے سے دان کیا جائے تو اس کا پھل کتنا بڑھ کر ہوگا! اور نوخیز بیلوں کا دان تو ان گایوں کے دان سے بھی زیادہ پُنیہ بخش کہا گیا ہے۔

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhīṣma uvāca', 'definition': 'Bhishma said'}, {'term': 'icchānusāram', 'definition': 'according to one’s wish

• as desired'}, {'term': 'dugdha-dāyinī', 'definition': 'milk-giving

• yielding milk'}, {'term': 'dhenukā / dhenu', 'definition': 'a milch-cow'}, {'term': 'dāna', 'definition': 'gift

• charitable giving'}, {'term': 'pārthiva-bhoga', 'definition': 'earthly enjoyments

• worldly pleasures'}, {'term': 'go-dāna', 'definition': 'gift of a cow'}, {'term': 'māhātmya', 'definition': 'greatness

• spiritual efficacy'}, {'term': 'havya', 'definition': 'offerings meant for the gods (devas)'}, {'term': 'kavya', 'definition': 'offerings meant for the ancestors (pitṛs), śrāddha-related'}, {'term': 'vidhi-pūrvakam', 'definition': 'in accordance with prescribed rite

• properly'}, {'term': 'mahā-phala', 'definition': 'great fruit

• great result (merit)'}, {'term': 'yuvā-bali(ka)', 'definition': 'young, strong (bull/ox)

• youthful draft animal'}, {'term': 'puṇya-dāyaka', 'definition': 'merit-bestowing

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• cow (dhenu)
• many cows
• young bulls/oxen
• havya (offerings to gods)
• kavya (offerings to ancestors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that properly performed charity (dāna), especially go-dāna, carries immense religious merit: giving a milk-yielding cow is equated with giving worldly enjoyments, and gifting many cows with due ritual offerings multiplies the fruit; gifting young bulls is praised as even more meritorious.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues advising on dharma and gifts. Here he extols the greatness of cow-gifting and related ritual propriety (havya-kavya associations), comparing the merit of single versus multiple gifts and adding the special praise of donating young bulls.