"'Yudhishthira said, "Do thou, O foremost one of Kuru's race, discourse
unto me once again of the excellent ordinance regarding gifts, with
especial reference, O thou of great wisdom, to the gift of earth. A
Kshatriya should make gifts of earth unto a Brahmana of righteous deeds.
Such a Brahmana should accept the gift with due rites. None else,
however, than a Kshatriya is competent to make gifts of earth. It behoves
thee now to tell me what these objects are that persons of all classes
are free to bestow if moved by the desire of earning merit. Thou shouldst
also tell me what has been said in the Vedas on this subject."
"'Bhishma said, "There are three gifts that go by the same name and that
are productive of equal merits. Indeed, these three confer the fruition
of every wish. The three objects whose gifts are of such a character are
kine, earth, and knowledge.[350] That person who tells his disciple words
of righteous import drawn from the Vedas acquires merit equal to that
which is won by making gifts of earth and kine. Similarly are kine
praised (as objects of gifts). There is no object of gift higher than
they. Kine are supposed to confer merit immediately. They are also, O
Yudhishthira, such that a gift of them cannot but lead to great merit.
Kine are the mothers of all creatures. They bestow every kind of
happiness. The person that desires his own prosperity should always make
gifts of kine. No one should kick at kine or proceed through the midst of
kine. Kine are goddesses and homes of auspiciousness. For this reason,
they always deserve worship. Formerly, the deities, while tilling the
earth whereon they performed a sacrifice, used the goad for striking the
bullocks yoked to the plough. Hence, in tilling earth for such a purpose,
one may, without incurring censure or sin, apply the goad to bullocks. In
other acts, however, bullocks should never be struck with the goad or the
whip. When kine are grazing or lying down no one should annoy them in any
way. When the cows are thirsty and they do not get water (in consequence
of any one obstructing their access to the pool or tank or river), they,
by merely looking at such a person, can destroy him with all his
relatives and friends. What creatures can be more sacred than kine when
with the very dung of kine altars whereon Sraddhas are performed in
honour of the Pitris, or those whereon the deities are worshipped, are
cleansed and sanctified? That man, who, before eating himself gives every
day, for a year, only a handful of grass unto a cow belonging to another,
is regarded as undergoing a vow or observance which bestows the fruition
of every wish. Such a person acquires children and fame and wealth and
prosperity, and dispels all evils and dreams."
"'Yudhishthira said, "What should be the indications of those kine that
deserve to be given away? What are those kine that should be passed over
in the matter of gifts? What should be the character of those persons
unto whom kine should be given? Who, again, are those unto whom kine
should not be given?"
"'Bhishma said, "A cow should never be given unto one that is not
righteous in behaviour, or one that is sinful, or one that is covetous or
one that is untruthful in speech, or one that does not make offerings
unto the Pitris and deities. A person, by making a gift of ten kine unto
a Brahmana learned in the Vedas, poor in earthly wealth, possessed of
many children, and owning a domestic fire, attains to numerous regions of
great felicity. When a man performs any act that is fraught with merit
assisted by what he has got in gift from another, a portion of the merit
attaching to that act becomes always his with whose wealth the act has
been accomplished. He that procreates a person, he that rescues a person,
and he that assigns the means of sustenance to a person are regarded as
the three sires. Services dutifully rendered to the preceptor destroys
sin. Pride destroys even great fame. The possession of three children
destroys the reproach of childlessness, and the possession of ten kine
dispels the reproach of poverty. Unto one that is devoted to the Vedanta,
that is endued with great learning, that has been filled with wisdom,
that has a complete control over his senses, that is observant of the
restraints laid down in the scriptures, that has withdrawn himself from
all worldly attachments, unto him that says agreeable words unto all
creatures, unto him that would never do an evil act even when impelled by
hunger, unto one that is mild or possessed of a peaceful disposition,
unto one that is hospitable to all guests,--verily unto such a Brahmana
should a man, possessed of similar conduct and owning children and wives,
assign the means of sustenance. The measure of merit that attaches to the
gift of kine unto a deserving person is exactly the measure of the sin
that attaches to the act of robbing a Brahmana of what belongs to him.
Under all circumstances should the spoliation of what belongs to a
Brahmana be avoided, and his spouses kept at a distance."'"