Shloka 13
गोमहात्म्य-प्रश्नोत्तरम्
Saudāsa–Vasiṣṭha on the Purifying Power of Cows
भीष्म उवाच एतत् पितामहेनोक्तमिन्द्राय भरतर्षभ । इन्द्रो दशरथायाह रामायाह पिता तथा,प्रभो! श्रीरामचन्द्रजीने भी अपने प्रिय एवं यशस्वी भ्राता लक्ष्मणको इसका उपदेश दिया। फिर लक्ष्मणने भी वनवासके समय ऋषियोंको यह बात बतायी ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | etat pitāmahenoktam indrāya bharatarṣabha | indro daśarathāyāha rāmāyāha pitā tathā | prabho śrīrāmacandro 'pi svapriyaṃ yaśasvinaṃ bhrātaraṃ lakṣmaṇaṃ tad upadiśya | lakṣmaṇo 'pi vanavāse ṛṣibhya etad avadat || pāramparyagataṃ cedaṃ ṛṣayaḥ saṃśitavratāḥ | durdharaṃ dhārayāmāsu rājānaś caiva dhārmikāḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“婆罗多族中的雄牛啊，此教诲乃祖父（梵天）对因陀罗所说；因陀罗转告达沙罗陀，而父亲又传与罗摩。圣主室利·罗摩旃陀罗亦以此训诫他所钟爱而声名显赫的弟弟罗什曼那；罗什曼那在林中流放之时，又将此事告知诸仙圣。如此经由不断绝的传承而来，这一难以持守的戒行，历来为誓愿坚固的圣贤与奉持正法的明君所护持。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the authority and seriousness of a dharmic discipline by grounding it in paramparā (a trusted lineage of transmission). Because it is ‘durdhara’—hard to sustain—it gains weight precisely through being upheld by exemplary sages of firm vows and righteous kings.
Bhishma, instructing the listener, traces how a particular counsel was handed down: from the Grandsire to Indra, from Indra to King Dasharatha, from Dasharatha to Rama, from Rama to Lakshmana, and from Lakshmana to sages during the forest-exile—showing an unbroken chain of ethical instruction.