Gavāṃ Māhātmya — Go-dāna, Yajña-ādhāra, and Goloka
Brahmā–Indra–Surabhi Itihāsa
तपसोअ<न्ते महाराज गावो लोकपरायणा: । तस्माद् गावो महाभागा: पवित्र परमुच्यते
Vasiṣṭha uvāca: tapasānte mahārāja gāvo lokaparāyaṇāḥ | tasmād gāvo mahābhāgāḥ pavitraṃ param ucyate ||
Vasiṣṭha nói: “Hỡi Đại vương, khi khổ hạnh đã viên mãn, đàn bò trở thành nơi nương tựa và chỗ nâng đỡ của toàn thế gian. Vì vậy, những con bò đại phúc ấy được tuyên xưng là tối thượng thanh tịnh.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
The verse teaches that cows are to be regarded as supremely purifying because they function as the world’s refuge and support; reverence and protection of such life-sustaining beings is presented as a dharmic duty.
Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and explains, in the course of praising the religious-ethical importance of cows, that upon the completion of tapas (austerity), cows came to be viewed as the sustaining refuge of the world, hence their status as ‘supremely pure’.