Shloka 2

Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ

Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers

Devanagari script

युधिछिर उवाच गोप्रदानगुणान्‌ सम्यक्‌ पुनर्मे ब्रूहि भारत । न हि तृप्याम्यहं वीर शृण्वानो$मृतमीदृशम्‌

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | gopradānaguṇān samyak punar me brūhi bhārata | na hi tṛpyāmy ahaṃ vīra śṛṇvāno 'mṛtam īdṛśam ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Hỡi Bhārata, xin hãy nói lại cho ta—rõ ràng và đầy đủ—về những đức hạnh và công đức của việc bố thí bò. Hỡi bậc anh hùng, nghe lời dạy ngọt như cam lộ ấy, ta vẫn chưa hề thỏa; lòng ham muốn được nghe lại càng thêm lớn.”

Word by Word

• {'yudhiṣṭhira uvāca': 'Yudhiṣṭhira said', 'go-pradāna': 'the gifting/donation of cows', 'guṇān': 'qualities, virtues, merits (accusative plural)', 'samyak': 'properly, correctly, thoroughly', 'punar': 'again, once more', 'me': 'to me, for me', 'brūhi': 'tell (imperative, 2nd person singular)', 'bhārata': 'O Bhārata

• descendant of Bharata (a form of address)', 'na hi': 'indeed not

• certainly not', 'tṛpyāmi': 'I am satisfied

• I feel content', 'ahaṃ': 'I', 'vīra': 'O hero, O valiant one (vocative)', 'śṛṇvānaḥ': 'listening, hearing (present participle)', 'amṛtam': 'nectar

• deathless, ambrosial (figuratively: supremely wholesome teaching)', 'īdṛśam': 'such as this, of this kind'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Bhārata (addressee)
• go (cow, as the object of donation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the dharmic value of go-dāna (donating cows) and portrays an ideal student’s attitude: repeated, attentive listening to ethical instruction is itself a virtue, because such teachings are ‘amṛta’—life-giving and spiritually nourishing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira, eager for dharma, addresses the speaker as ‘Bhārata’ and requests a clearer, repeated explanation of the merits of cow-gifting. He says he is not yet satisfied, indicating deep reverence and sustained curiosity for teachings on charity and righteous conduct.