Anushasanika Parva — The end of persons who make gifts of kine

The grandfather said The questions you have put to me about kine, beginning with their gift, are such that there is none else in the three world, O you of a hundred sacrifices, who could put them.

There are many kinds of regions, O Shakra, which are invisible to even you. Those regions are seen by me. O Indra,, as also by those women who are chaste and who have been devoted to only one husband.

Rishis observe excellent vows, by means of their deeds of virtue and piety and Brahmanas of righteous souls, succeed in going there in even their human bodies.

Men who perform excellent vows see those regions which resemble the bright creations of dreams helped by their purified minds and by that (temporary) liberation which succeeds the loss of one's consciousness of body.

O you, of a thousand eyes, hear me as I tell you what the attributes are of those regions. There the very course of Time is stopped. Decrepitude is not there nor Fire which is omnipresent in the universe. There is slightest transgression does not take place, nor disease, nor weakness of any sort.

The kine which live there, O Vasava, acquire the fruition of every desire which they cherish in their hearts. I have direct experience of what I say to you.

Capable of going everywhere at will and actually going from place to place with ease, they enjoy the fruition of desire after desire as it arises in their minds. Lakes, tanks, rivers, forests of diverse kinds, mansions, hills and all kinds of delightful objects are to be seen there. There is no region of happiness that is superior to any of these of which I speak.

All those foremost of men, O Shakra, who are forgiving to all creatures, who endure everything, who are full of love for all things, who render dutiful obedience to their preceptors, and who are freed from pride and vanity, go to those regions of supreme happiness.

He who abstains from every kind of flesh, who is possessed of a pure heart, who is gifted with righteousness, who worships his parents with respect, who is endued with truthfulness of speech and conduct, who attends with obedience upon the Brahmanas, who is faultless in conduct, who never behaves with anger towards kine and towards the Brahmanas, who performs every duty, who serves his preceptors with reverence, who is devoted for his whole life to truth and to gifts, and who is always forgiving towards all transgressions against himself, who is mild and selfcontrolled, who is full of respect for the celestials, who is hospitable to all guests, who is gifted with mercy, indeed, he who is adorned with these attributes, succeeds in attaining to the eternal region of kine.

He who is sullied with adultery, sees not such a region; nor he who is a destroyer of his preceptor; nor he who speaks falsely or indulges in idle vaunts; nor he who always disputes with others; nor he who acts with hostility towards the Brahmanas. Indeed, that wicked man who is sullied with such faults cannot even see these regions of happiness; nor he who injures his friends, nor he who is guileful; nor he who is ungrateful; nor he who is a cheat; nor he who is crooked in conduct; nor he who is a disregarder of religion nor he who is a slayer of Brahmanas. Such man cannot see in ever Imagination the region of kine that is the abode of only the pious.

I have told you everything particularly about the regions of kine, O king of the celestials. Hear now, O you of a hundred sacrifices, the merit of persons who are engaged in making gifts of kine.

He who makes gifts of kine, after purchasing them with money obtained by inheritance or acquired by fair means, attains, as the fruit of such an act, to many regions of endless happiness.

He who makes a gift of a cow, having acquired it with money, won at dice, enjoys happiness, O Shakra, for ten thousand celestial years.

He who acquires a cow as his share of ancestral riches is said to acquire her legitimately. Such a cow may be given away. They who make gifts of kine so acquired, obtain innumerable endless regions of eternal happiness.

That person who having acquired a cow in gift makes a gift of her with a pure heart, succeeds, forsooth, O lord of Sachi, in Obtaining eternal regions of beatitude.

That person who with controlled senses speaks the truth from his birth and who endures everything at the hands of his preceptor and of the Brahmanas, and who practises forgiveness, gains an end that is equal to that of kine.

Improper words, O lord of Shachi, should never be addressed to a Brahmana. One, again, should not, in even his mind, do an injury to a cow. One should in his conduct, imitate the cow, and show mercy towards the cow.

Hear, O Shakra, of the fruits which truthful persons enjoy. If such a person gives away a single cow, that becomes thousandfold.

If Kshatriya endued with such qualifications, makes a gift of a single cow, his merit equals that of a Brahmana's That single cow, listen, O Shakra, which such a Kshatriya gives away produces as much merit as the single cow that a Brahmana gives away does under similar circumstances. This is the issue of the scriptures.

If a Vaishya, endued with similar accomplishments, were to make a gift of a single cow, that cow would equal five hundred kine. If a Shudra endued with humility were to make a gift of a cow, such cow would be equal to a hundred and twenty five kine. one COW a a

Given to penances and truth, always in Scriptures through duliful services done to his preceptor, gifted with forgiving nature, engaged in the adoration of the deities, possessed of a tranquil soul, pure, enlightened, observant of all duties, and freed from every sort of egotism, that man who makes a gift of a cow to a Brahmana, forsooth, acquires great merit through that act of his, viz., the gift, according to proper rites, of a cow giving profuse milk. Hence, one, with singleness of devotion, observant of truth, and engaged in humbly serving his preceptor, should always make gifts of kine.

Hear, O Shakra, what the merit is of that person who, duly studying the Vedas, shows respect for kine, who always becomes glad on seeing kine, and who since his birth always bows his head to kine.

The merit which one wins by celebrating the Rajasuya sacrifice, the merit that one acquires by making gifts of heaps of gold, that high merit is acquired by a person who shows such respect for kine. Virtuous Rishis and great persons crowned with success have said so.

Given to truth, possessed of a tranquil soul, free from cupidity, always truthful in speech, and behaving with respect towards kine with the steadiness of a vow, the man who, for a whole year, before himself taking any food, regularly presents some food to kine, acquires the merit, by such an act, of the gift of a thousand kine.

That man who takes only one meal a day and who gives away the entire quantity of his other meal to kine, that man, who thus respects kine with the steadiness of a vow and shows such mercy towards them, enjoys for ten years unlimited happiness.

That man who takes himself only one meal a day and with the other meal saved for some time purchases a cow and makes a gift of it, acquires, through that gift, O you of a hundred sacrifices, the eternal merit of the gift of as many kine as there are hairs on the body of that single cow so given away.

These are sayings about the merits that Brahmanas acquire by making gifts of kine. Listen now to the merits that Kshatriyas may acquire. It has been said that a Kshatriya, by purchasing a cow in this manner and making a gift of it to a Brahmana, acquires great happiness for five years. A Vaishya, by such conduct, wins only half the merit of a Kshatriyas, and a Shudra, by such conduct, wins half the merit that a Vaishya does.

That man who sells himself and with the proceeds thereof purchases kini and gives them away to Brahmanas, enjoys happiness in Heaven for as long a period as kin are seen on Earth.

It has been said, O highly blessed one, that a region of eternal happiness exists in every hair of such kine as are purchased with the proceeds obtained by selling oneself. That man who having acquired kine by battle makes gifts of them, acquires as much merit as he who makes gifts of kine after having bought the same with the proceeds of selling oneself. That man who, in the absence of kine, makes a gift of a cow made of sesame seeds, controlling his senses the while, is saved by such a cow from every sort of calamity or distress. Such a man sports in great happiness.

The mere gift of kine is not fraught with merit. The considerations of worthy recipients, of time, of the kind of kine, and of the ritual to be observed, should be seen. One should determine the proper time for making a gift of kine. One should also determine the distinctive qualifications of both Brahmanas and of kine themselves. Kine should not be given to one in whose house they are likely to suffer from fire or the sun.

One who is rich in Vedic learning, who is of pure birth, who is gifted with a tranquil soul, who is given to the celebration of sacrifices, who fears the perpetration of sin, who is gifted with varied knowledge, who is compassionate towards kine, who is mild in conduct, who gives protection to all who seek it of him, and who has no means of livelihood assigned to him, is considered as a proper person for receiving a gift of kine.

To a Brahmana who has no means of livelihood to him while he is want of food for purposes of agriculture, for a child born on account of Homa, for the purposes of his preceptor, for the sustenance of a child born should a cow be given. Indeed, the gift should be made at a proper time and in a proper place.

Those kine, O Shakra, whose dispositions are well known, which have been won as honoraria for knowledge, or which have been bought in exchange for other animals (such as goats, sheep, etc.), or which have been got by prowess of arms, obtained marriagedower, or which have been acquired by being rescued from situations of danger, or which, their poor owners, being unable to maintain them, have been made over by careful keep, in one's house with the wish of remaining , there, are, for such reasons, considered as proper objects of gift.

Or as Those kine which are strong of body, which have good dispositions and which emit a sweet fragrance, are highly spoken of in the matter of gifts. As Ganga is the foremost of all rivers, so is Kapila the foremost of all kine.

Abstaining from all food and subsisting only upon water for three nights, and sleeping for the same for the same time upon the naked earth, one should make gifts of kine to Brahmanas after having pleased them with other presents. Such kine, freed from every vice, should, at the same time, be accompained by healthy calves. Having made the gift, the giver should live for the next three days successively on food consisting only of the products of the cow.

By giving away a goodnatured cow, that quietly allows herself to be milked, that always brings forth living and healthy calves, and that does not fly away from the owner's house, the giver enjoys happiness in the next world for as many years as there are hairs on her body.

Likewise, by giving to a Brahmana a bull that is capable of carrying heavy loads, that is young and strong and quiet, that quietly bears the yoke of the plough, and that is possessed of such energy as is sufficient to undergo even great labour, one acquires such regions as are his who gives away ten kine.

rescues That person who kine and Brahmanas in the forest, O Kaushika, is himself rescued from every sort of danger. Hear what his merit is.

The merit such a man wins is equal to the eternal merit of a Horsesacrifice. Such a person acquires whatever end he desires at the hour of death.

For such an act a man acquires many a region of happiness, in fact, whatever happiness he seeks in his heart.

Indeed, such a man permitted by kine, lives honoured in every region of happiness. That man who follows kine every day in the forest with this intention, himself living the while on grass and cowdung and leaves of trees, his heart freed from desire of fruit, his senses controlled from every improper object, and his mind purified that man, O you of a hundred sacrifices, lives happily freed from the control of desire in my region or in any other region of happiness that he wishes, in the company of the celestials.