Shloka 26

Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ

Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers

Devanagari script

नामृतेनामृतं पीतं वत्सपीता न वत्सला | इमॉल्लोकान्‌ भरिष्यन्ति हविषा प्रस्नरवेण च

Transliteration

nāmṛtenāmṛtaṃ pītaṃ vatsapītā na vatsalā | imāṁl lokān bhariṣyanti haviṣā prasnaraveṇa ca ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Không có ‘cam lộ’ chân thật của hạnh kiểm đúng đắn thì điều được uống chẳng phải cam lộ; và con bò để bê con bú sữa cũng chưa vì thế mà thật sự là hiền từ, thương yêu. Chính nhờ các lễ vật hiến tế (havis) và lời xướng tụng thiêng liêng đúng phép (tiếng gọi/khúc tụng nghi lễ) mà các cõi này được duy trì.”

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अमृते: in/with respect to nectar; in immortality
• अमृते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• नामृतम्: nectar (immortality)
• नामृतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पीतम्: drunk
• Type: Verb
• Root: पा
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वत्सपीता: having been drunk by the calf (i.e., whose milk was drunk by the calf)
• वत्सपीता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वत्सपीत
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• वत्सला: affectionate to the calf; loving
• वत्सला: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वत्सल
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• इमान्: these
• इमान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• लोकान्: worlds
• लोकान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• भरिष्यन्ति: they will support/bear
• Type: Verb
• Root: भृ
• Form: Simple future (लृट्), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• हविषा: with oblation
• हविषा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: हविस्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• प्रस्नरवेण: with (the) sound/cry called prasnarava
• प्रस्नरवेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रस्नरव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• loka (the worlds)
• havis (sacrificial oblation)
• vatsa (calf)
• cow (implied by vatsapītā/vatsalā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma distinguishes mere appearance from genuine substance: something is not truly ‘amṛta’ just because it is called or consumed as such, and affection is not proved by a single outward act. The stability of the worlds is linked to dharmic order expressed through yajña—offerings (havis) and their proper sacred recitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he uses compact analogies (amṛta and the cow-calf image) to emphasize discernment and then points to the sustaining role of ritual duty—oblations and the accompanying sacred utterance.