Shloka 6

Gavāṃ Māhātmya — Go-dāna, Yajña-ādhāra, and Goloka

Brahmā–Indra–Surabhi Itihāsa

Devanagari script

उत्तस्थु: सिद्धकामास्ता भूतभव्यस्य मातर: । प्रातर्नमस्यास्ता गावस्तत:ः पुष्टिमवाप्लुयात्‌

Transliteration

uttasthuḥ siddhakāmās tā bhūtabhavyasya mātaraḥ | prātar namasyās tā gāvas tataḥ puṣṭim avāpnuyāt |

Translation

Vasiṣṭha nói: “Khi mục đích đã viên thành, những con bò ấy đứng dậy khỏi khổ hạnh. Chúng là mẹ của thời gian—của điều đã qua, điều sẽ đến và điều đang là. Vì vậy, mỗi sớm mai người ta nên thức dậy và cúi đầu đảnh lễ bò; nhờ đó, con người được dưỡng nuôi, an khang và cường lực.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'uttasthuḥ', 'definition': 'they rose up, they stood up (perfect/preterite of √sthā with ud-)'}, {'term': 'siddhakāmāḥ', 'definition': 'those whose desires/aims are accomplished

• fulfilled in purpose'}, {'term': 'gāvaḥ', 'definition': 'cows (nominative plural of go)'}, {'term': 'tapasā', 'definition': 'by austerity, through ascetic practice'}, {'term': 'mātaraḥ', 'definition': 'mothers, progenitresses'}, {'term': 'bhūta', 'definition': 'the past

• what has been'}, {'term': 'bhavya', 'definition': 'the future

• what is to be'}, {'term': 'prātaḥ', 'definition': 'in the morning, at dawn'}, {'term': 'namasyāḥ / namasyāt', 'definition': 'should be saluted/revered (gerundive/optative sense: ‘one should bow’)'}, {'term': 'praṇāma', 'definition': 'bowing, respectful salutation (implied by namasyā-)'}, {'term': 'puṣṭi', 'definition': 'nourishment, thriving, prosperity, bodily strength'}, {'term': 'avāpnuyāt', 'definition': 'one would obtain/attain (optative of ava-√āp)'}]

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• cows (gāvaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches daily reverence toward cows as a dharmic practice: honoring them—seen as life-sustaining and symbolically ‘mothers of time’—is said to yield puṣṭi, i.e., nourishment, strength, and well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha describes cows who, after completing their tapas and achieving their purpose, rise up; he then draws a prescriptive lesson for householders: bow to cows each morning to gain flourishing and vitality.