One
should always recite this sacred Mantra, viz.,--Kine are of beautiful
form. Kine are of diverse forms. They are of universal form. They are the
mothers of the universe. O, let kine approach me!--There is no gift more
sacred than the gift of kine. There is no gift that produces more blessed
merit. There has been nothing equal to the cow, nor will there be
anything that will equal her. With her skin, her hair, her horns, the
hair of her tail, her milk, and her fat,--with all these together,--the
cow upholds sacrifice. What thing is there that is more useful than the
cow? Bending my head unto her with reverence, I adore the cow who is the
mother of both the Past and the Future, and by whom the entire universe
of mobile and immobile creatures is covered. O best of men, I have thus
recited to thee only a portion of the high merits of kine. There is no
gift in this world that is superior to the gift of trine. There is also
no refuge in this world that is higher than kine.'
"Bhishma continued, 'That high-souled giver of land (viz., king Saudasa),
thinking these words of the Rishi Vasishtha to be foremost in point of
importance, then made gifts of a very large number of kine unto the
Brahmanas, restraining his senses the while, and as the consequence of
those gifts, the monarch succeeded in attaining to many regions of
felicity in the next world.
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