ouled persons crowned with success have said so. Devoted to
truth, possessed of a tranquil soul, free from cupidity, always truthful
in speech, and behaving with reverence towards kine with the steadiness
of a vow, the man, who, for a whole year before himself taking any food,
regularly presents some food to kine, wins the merit, by such an act, of
the gift of a thousand kine. That man, who takes only one meal a day and
who gives away the entire quantity of his other meal unto kine.--verily,
that man, who thus reverences kine with the steadiness of a vow and shows
such compassion towards them,--enjoys for ten years' unlimited felicity.
That man, who confines himself to only one meal a day and with the other
meal saved for some time purchases a cow and makes a gift of it (unto a
Brahmana), earns, through that gift, O thou of a hundred sacrifices, the
eternal merit that attaches to the gift of as many kine as there are
hairs on the body of that single cow so given away. These are
declarations in respect of the merit that Brahmanas acquire by making
gifts of kine. Listen now to the merits that Kshatriyas may win. It has
been said that a Kshatriya, by purchasing a cow in this manner and making
a gift of it unto a Brahmana, acquires great felicity for five years. A
Vaisya, by such conduct, acquires only half the merit of a Kshatriya, and
a Sudra, by such conduct, earns half the merit that a Vaisya does. That
man, who sells himself and with the proceeds thereof purchases kine and
gives them away unto Brahmanas, enjoy felicity in heaven for as long a
period as kine are seen on earth. It has been said, O highly blessed one,
that in every hair of such kine as are purchased with the proceeds
obtained by selling oneself, there is a region of inexhaustible felicity.
That man, who having acquired kine by battle makes gifts of them (unto
Brahmanas), acquires as much merit as he, who makes gifts of kine after
having purchased the same with the proceeds of selling oneself. That man,
who, in the absence of kine, makes a gift of a cow made of sesame seeds,
restraining his senses the while, is rescued by such a cow from every
kind of calamity or distress. Such a man sports in great felicity. The
mere gift of kine is not fraught with merit. The considerations of
deserving recipients, of time, of the kind of kine, and of the ritual to
be observed, should be attended to. One should ascertain the proper time
for making a gift of kine. One should