Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 27

Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share

Devanagari script

सुवर्णशंगैस्तु विराजितानां गवां सहस्नस्यथ नर: प्रदानात्‌ । प्राप्नोति पुण्यं दिवि देवलोक- मित्येवमाहुर्दिवि देवसंघा:

Transliteration

suvarṇaśaṅgais tu virājitānāṁ gavāṁ sahasrasya atha naraḥ pradānāt | prāpnoti puṇyaṁ divi devalokam ity evam āhur divi devasaṅghāḥ ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说：若有人布施一千头牛，其角以黄金装饰，便能获得功德，抵达天界的神圣世界——居于天上的诸神会众皆如是宣说。

Word by Word

• {'suvarṇa': 'gold', 'śaṅga': 'horn (of a cow)

• here in plural as ‘horns’', 'suvarṇaśaṅgaiḥ': 'with gold-adorned horns (instrumental plural)', 'tu': 'indeed

• but (emphatic particle)', 'virājitānām': 'of those that are splendid/adorned (genitive plural)', 'gavām': 'of cows (genitive plural)', 'sahasrasya': 'of a thousand (genitive singular

• ‘a thousand [cows]’)', 'atha': 'then

• moreover (connective particle)', 'naraḥ': 'a man

• person', 'pradānāt': 'from the act of giving

• by donation (ablative)', 'prāpnoti': 'attains

• obtains', 'puṇyam': 'merit

• auspicious reward', 'divi': 'in heaven

• in the sky (locative)', 'devalokam': 'the world of the gods

• celestial realm', 'iti': 'thus (quotative)', 'evam': 'in this manner

• so', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'devasaṅghāḥ': 'companies/assemblies of gods', 'divi devasaṅghāḥ': 'the divine hosts in heaven (locative + nominative)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• cows (gavāḥ)
• gold (suvarṇa)
• heaven (div)
• Devaloka
• assemblies of gods (devasaṅghāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that generous, ritually valued charity—specifically the grand gift of a thousand cows adorned with gold—produces puṇya (religious merit) and is traditionally believed to lead to attainment of Devaloka (the celestial world).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports a traditional claim attributed to the heavenly gods: that performing a major act of donation (sahasra-go-dāna) results in heavenly reward. It functions as an authoritative endorsement of dāna within the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma.