Do thou accept
her!--The man who gives away cloths (as the substitute of a cow) should
utter the words,--Bhavitavya--(meaning that the gift should be regarded
as representing a cow). The man who gives away gold (as the substitute of
a cow) should utter the word,--Vaishnavi (meaning, this gold that I give
away is of the form and nature of a cow).--Even these are the words that
should be uttered in the order of the kind of gift mentioned above. The
reward that is reaped by making such vicarious gifts of kine is residence
in Heaven for six and thirty thousand years, eight thousand years, and
twenty thousand years respectively. Even these are the merits,
respectively, of gifts of things as substitute of kine. While as regards
him who gives an actual cow all the merits that attach to vicarious gifts
of kine become his at only the eight step (homewards) of the
recipient.[368] He that gives an actual cow becomes endued with righteous
behaviour in this world. He that gives the value of a cow becomes freed
from every kind of fear. He that gives a cow (as a substitute in way for
a real cow) never meet with sorrow. All the three, as also they that
regularly go through their ablutions and other acts at early dawn, and he
that is well-conversant with the Mahabharata, it is well-known, attain to
the regions of Vishnu and Soma.
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