'"[378]
SECTION LXXXI
"Yudhishthira said, 'Tell me, O grandsire, what is that which is the most
sacred of all sacred things in the world, other than that which has been
already mentioned, and which is the highest of all sanctifying objects.'
"Bhishma said, 'Kine are the foremost of all objects. They are highly
sacred and they rescue men (from all kinds of sin and distress). With
their milk and with the Havi manufactured therefrom, kine uphold all
creatures in the universe. O best of the Bharatas, there is nothing that
is more sacred than kine. The foremost of all things in the three worlds,
kine are themselves sacred and capable of cleansing others, Kine reside
in a region that is even higher than the region of the deities. When
given away, they rescue their givers. Men of wisdom succeed in attaining
to Heaven by making gifts of kine. Yuvanaswa's son Mandhatri, Yayati, and
(his sire) Nahusha, used always to give away kine in thousands. As the
reward of those gifts, they have attained to such regions as are
unattainable by the very deities. There is, in this connection, O sinless
one, a discourse delivered of old. I shall recite it to thee. Once on a
time, the intelligent Suka, having finished his morning rites, approached
with a restrained mind his sire, that foremost of Rishis, viz.
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