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making those gifts, the kind of kine that should form the object of gifts, and the rites that should be observed in making the |
gifts. Gifts of kine should be made after ascertaining the distinctive qualifications of both Brahmanas (who are to receive them) |
and the kine themselves (which are to be given away). Kine should not be given unto one in whose abode they are likely to |
suffer from fire or the sun. That Brahmana who is possessed of Vedic lore, who is of austere penances, and who performs |
sacrifices, is regarded as worthy of receiving kine in gift. Those kine that have been rescued from distress situation, or that |
have been given by poor householders from want of sufficient means to feed and cherish them, are, for these reasons, reckoned |
as of high value.[354] Abstaining from all food and living upon water alone for three nights and sleeping the while on the bare |
earth, one should, having properly fed the kine one intends to give away, give them unto Brahmanas after having gratified them |
also (with other gifts). The kine given away should be accompanied by their calves. They should, again, be such as to bring |
forth good calves, at the proper seasons. They should be accompanied with other articles so given away. Having completed the |
gift, the giver should live for three days on only milk and forbearing from food of every other kind. He, who gives a cow that is |
not vicious, that brings forth good calves at proper intervals, and that does not fly away from the owners' house, and |
accompanies such gift with a vessel of white brass for milking her, enjoys the felicity of heaven for as many years as are |
measured by the number of hairs on the animal's body. He, who gives unto a Brahmana a bull well-broken and capable of |
bearing burdens, possessed of strength and young in years, disinclined to do any mischief, large-sized and endued with energy, |
enjoys those regions, that are reserved for givers of kine. He is regarded as a proper person for receiving a cow in gift who is |
known to be mild towards kine, who takes kine for his refuge, who is grateful, and who has no means of subsistence assigned |
unto him. When an old man becomes ill, or when a Brahmana intends to perform a sacrifice, or when one wishes to till for |
agriculture, or when one gets a son through the efficacy of a Homa performed for the purpose, or for the use of one's preceptor, |
or for the sustenance of a child (born in the usual way), one should give away a beloved cow. Even these are the considerations |
that are applauded (in the matter of making gifts of kine) in respect of place and time. The kine that deserve to be given away |
are those that yield copious measures of milk, or those that are well-known (for their docility and other virtues). or those that |
have been purchased for a price, or those that have been acquired as honoraria for learning, or those that have been obtained in |
exchange by offering other living creatures (such as sheep and goats, etc.), or those that have been won by prowess of arms, or |
those that have been gained as marriage-dower (from fathers-in-law and other relations of the wife).' |
"Nachiketa continued, 'Hearing these words of Vaivaswata, I once more addressed him, saying, 'What are those objects by |
giving which, when kine are not procurable, givers may yet go to regions reserved for men making gifts of kine?' Questioned |
by me, the wise Yama answered, explaining further what the end is that is attainable by making gifts of kine. He said, 'In the |
absence of kine, a person by making gifts of what has been regarded as the substitute of kine, wins the merit of making gifts of |
kine. If, in the absence of kine, one makes a gift of a cow made of ghee, observant of a vow the while, one gets for one's use |
these rivers of ghee all of which approach one like an affectionate mother approaching her beloved child. If, in the absence of |
even a cow made of ghee, one makes a gift of a cow made of sesame seeds, observing a cow the while, one succeeds with the |
assistance of that cow to get over all calamities in this world and to enjoy great happiness hereafter from these rivers of milk |
that thou beholdest! If in the absence of a cow made of sesame seeds, one makes a gift of a cow made of water one succeeds in |
coming to these happy regions and enjoying this river of cool and transparent water, that is, besides capable of granting the |
fruition of every wish.' The king of the dead explained to me all this while I was his guest, and, O thou of unfading glory, great |
was the joy that I felt at sight of all the wonders he showed me. I shall now tell thee what would certainly be agreeable to thee. |
I have now got a great sacrifice whose performance does not require much wealth. That sacrifice (constituted by gifts of kine) |
may be said to flow from me, O sire! Others will obtain it also. It is not inconsistent with the ordinances of the Vedas. The |
curse that thou hadst pronounced upon me was no curse but was in reality a blessing, since it enabled me to have a sight of the |
great king of the dead. There I have beheld what the rewards are that attach to gifts. I shall, henceforth, O thou of great soul, |
practise the duty of gift without any doubt lurking in my mind respecting its rewards. And, O great Rishi, the righteous Yama, |
filled with joy, repeatedly told me, 'One, who, by making frequent gifts, has succeeded in acquiring purity of mind should then |
make gifts of kine specially. This topic (about gifts) is fraught with sanctity. Do thou never disregard the duties in respect of |
gifts. Gifts, again, should be made unto deserving persons, when time and place are suitable. Do thou, therefore, always make |
gifts of kine. Never entertain any doubts in this respect. Devoted to the path of gifts, many high-souled persons in days of yore |
used to make gifts of kine. Fearing to practise austere penances, they made gifts according to the extent of their power. In time |
they cast off all sentiments of pride and vanity, and purified their souls. Engaged in performing Sraddhas in honour of the Pitris |
and in all acts of righteousness, they used to make, according to the extent of their power, gifts of kine, and as the reward of |
those acts they have attained to heaven and are shining in effulgence for such righteousness. One should, on the eighth day of |
the moon that is known by the name of Kamyashtami, make gifts of kine, properly won, unto the Brahmanas after ascertaining |
the eligibility of the recipients (by the ordinances already laid down). After making the gift, one should then subsist for ten |
days together upon only the milk of kine, their dung and their urine (abstaining from all other food the while). The merit that |
one acquires by making a gift of a bull is equal to that which attaches to the divine vow. By making a gift of a couple of kine |
one acquires, as the reward thereof, a mastery of the Vedas. By making a gift of cars and vehicles with kine yoked thereto, one |
acquires the merit of baths in sacred waters. By making a gift of a cow of the Kapila species, one becomes cleansed of all one's |
sins. Verily, by giving away even a single cow of the Kapila species that has been acquired by legitimate means, one becomes |
cleansed of all the sins one may have committed. There is nothing higher (in point of tastes) than the milk which is yielded by |
kine. The gift of a cow is truly regarded as a very superior gift. Kine by yielding milk, rescue all the worlds from calamity. It is |
kine, again, that produce the food upon which creatures subsist. One, who, knowing the extent of the service that kine do, does |
not entertain in one's heart affection for kine, is a sinner that is certain to sink in hell.[355] If one gives a thousand or a hundred |
or ten or five kine, verily, if one gives unto a righteous Brahmana even a single cow which brings forth good calves at proper |
intervals, one is sure to see that cow approach one in heaven in the form of a river of sacred water capable of granting the |
fruition of every wish. In respect of the prosperity and the growth that kine confer, in the matter also of the protection that kine |
grant unto all creatures of the earth, kine are equal to the very rays of the sun that fall on the earth.[356] The word that signifies |
the cow stands also for the rays of the sun. The giver of a cow becomes the progenitor of a very large race that extends over a |
large part of the earth. Hence, he that gives a cow shines like a second sun in resplendence. The disciple should, in the matter |
of making gifts of kine, select his preceptor. Such a disciple is sure to go to heaven. The selection of a preceptor (in the matter |
of the performance of pious deeds) is regarded as a high duty by persons conversant with the ordinances. This is, indeed, the |
initial ordinance. All other ordinances (respecting the gift of kine) depend upon it.[357] Selecting, after examination, an |
eligible person among the Brahmanas, one should make unto him the gift of a cow that has been acquired by legitimate means, |
and having made the gift cause him to accept it. The deities and men and ourselves also, in wishing good to other, say, 'Let the |
merits attaching to gifts be thine in consequence of thy righteousness!' Even thus did the judge of the dead speak unto me, O |
regenerate Rishi. I then bowed my head unto the righteous Yama. Obtaining his permission I left his dominions and have now |
come to the sole of thy feet.'" |
SECTION LXXII |
"Yudhishthira said, 'Thou hast, O grandsire, discoursed to me the topic of gifts of kine in speaking of the Rishi Nachiketa Thou |
hast also impliedly discoursed, O puissant one, on the efficacy and pre-eminence of that act. Thou hast also told me, O |
grandsire of great intelligence, of the exceedingly afflicting character of the calamity that overtook the high-souled king Nriga |
in consequence of a single fault of his. He had to dwell for a tong time at Dwaravati (in the form of a mighty lizard) and how |
Krishna became the cause of his rescue from that miserable plight. I have, however, one doubt. It is on the subject of the |
regions of kine. I desire to hear, in detail, about those regions which are reserved for the residence of persons that make gifts of |
kine.' |
"Bhishma said, 'In this connection is recited the old narrative of the discourse between Him who sprang from the primeval lotus |
and him who performed a hundred sacrifices.' |
"Sakra said, 'I see, O Grandsire, that those who are residents of the region of kine transcend by their resplendence the |
prosperity of the denizens of heaven and pass them by (as beings of an inferior station). This has raised a doubt in my mind. Of |
what kind, O holy one, are the regions of kine? Tell me all about them, O sinless one! Verily, what is the nature of those |
regions that are inhabited by givers of kine? I wish to know this of what kind are those regions? What fruits do they bring? |
What is the highest object there which the denizens thereof succeeds in winning? What are its virtues? How also do men, freed |
from every kind of anxiety, succeed in going to those regions? For what period does the giver of a cow enjoy the fruits that are |
borne by his gift? How may persons make gifts of many kine and how may they make gifts of a few kine? What are the merits |
attaching to gifts of many kine and what those that attach to gifts of a few only? How also do persons become givers of kine |
without giving any kine in reality? Do thou tell me all this. How does one making gifts of even many kine, O puissant lord, |
become the equal of one that has made gift of only a few kine? How also does one who make gifts of only a few kine succeed |
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