Shloka 12
Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa
Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation
शोषोत्सगें कर्मभिर्देहमो क्षे सरस्वत्य: श्रेयसे सम्प्रवृत्ता: । यूयं नित्यं सर्वपुण्योपवाह्ां दिशध्वं मे गतिमिष्टां प्रसन्ना:
śoṣotsarge karmabhir dehamokṣe sarasvatyaḥ śreyase sampravṛttāḥ | yūyaṃ nityaṃ sarvapuṇyopavāhāṃ diśadhvaṃ me gatim iṣṭāṃ prasannāḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“诸牛啊！你们因侍奉与礼敬你们之人的行为而欢喜，便使他们脱离消耗之疾与诸般苦恼；又以赐予真实之智，甚至解开他们对形体之系缚。为照料你们之人的福祉，你们恒常勤作，如娑罗萨伐底河推送吉祥向前流行。故愿你们常怀慈悦，赐我由一切功德所成就的所愿归趣。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Service to cows is presented as a dharmic act whose fruits include relief from suffering, the rise of right knowledge, and ultimately liberation; the verse frames cows as conduits of puṇya who can bestow an auspicious gati when pleased.
Bhīṣma, instructing on dharma in the Anuśāsana Parva, addresses the cows directly in a prayer-like appeal, praising their beneficent power and asking them—being pleased—to grant him the desired spiritual destiny.