Shloka 5
Go-mahātmyam: Pavitrāṇāṃ Pavitraṃ
Cows and Ghee as Supreme Purifiers
असुर्या नाम ते लोका गां दत्त्वा तानू न गच्छति । पीतोदकां जग्धतृणां नष्टक्षीरां निरिन्द्रियाम्
bhīṣma uvāca | asuryā nāma te lokā gāṁ dattvā tānū na gacchati | pītodakāṁ jagdhatṛṇāṁ naṣṭakṣīrāṁ nirindriyām |
毗湿摩说：“有些世界名为‘阿苏利耶’——无日之境，幽暗之域。若施与之牛体况端正，施主便不必堕入彼处。然若有人施与一头被弃置至无水可饮、无草可食、乳汁败坏、诸根与气力衰竭——老迈多病——的母牛，则此所谓‘布施’不过徒令受施的婆罗门平白受苦，而施主自身亦将堕入可怖之地狱。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Charity must be meaningful and non-harmful: donating an unfit, suffering cow is not true dāna but a burden that harms the recipient and brings negative karmic consequences to the giver.
Bhishma, instructing on dāna-dharma in the Anushasana Parva, contrasts proper cow-gifting (which protects one from dark afterlife realms) with the unethical act of giving a debilitated cow, which leads to suffering and hellish results.