Shloka 3

Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ

Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच इत्युक्तो धर्मराजेन तदा शान्तनवो नृप: । सम्यगाह गुणांस्तस्मै गोप्रदानस्य केवलान्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: ity ukto dharmarājena tadā śāntanavo nṛpaḥ | samyag āha guṇāṁs tasmai gopradānasya kevalān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Được Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira) thỉnh hỏi như vậy, bấy giờ vị vua Śāntanava (Bhīṣma) liền tuần tự, đúng phép mà trình bày những đức hạnh và công đức chỉ riêng thuộc về việc bố thí bò—nêu rõ giá trị đạo đức của nó như một hành vi bố thí theo dharma.

Word by Word

• वैशम्पायनः: Vaishampayana
• वैशम्पायनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैशम्पायन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, 3rd, Singular

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• उक्तः: having been addressed / spoken to
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, kta (past passive participle)

• धर्मराजेन: by Dharmaraja (Yudhishthira)
• धर्मराजेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्मराज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• शान्तनवः: the son/descendant of Shantanu (Bhishma)
• शान्तनवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तनव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नृपः: king
• नृपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सम्यक्: properly, correctly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्यक्

• आह: said, spoke
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह्
• Form: Perfect, 3rd, Singular

• गुणान्: merits, virtues
• गुणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• तस्मै: to him
• तस्मै: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• गोप्रदानस्य: of cow-gifting (gift of cows)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोप्रदान
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• केवलान्: only, exclusively
• Type: Adjective
• Root: केवल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dharmarāja (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Śāntanava (Bhīṣma)
• go-pradāna (gift of cows)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames go-dāna (the gifting of cows) as a distinct dharmic act whose specific virtues are to be explained carefully; it highlights that ethical giving is not random but can be taught, categorized, and performed in a proper (samyak) manner.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmarāja) addresses him with a query, Bhīṣma—identified as Śāntanava—begins a focused exposition on the merits of cow-gifting, with Vaiśampāyana narrating this transition.