Mahabharata Anushasna Parva Chapter 77

Mahabharata Anushasna Parva (Dana Dharma Parva) Chapter 77 "Vaisampayana said, 'King Yudhishthira endued with humility, once again questioned the royal son of Santanu on the subject of gifts of kine in detail.' "'The king said, "Do thou, O Bharata, once more discourse to me in detail on the merits of giving away kine. Verily, O hero, I have not been satiated with hearing thy nectar-like words!" "Vaisampayana continued, 'Thus addressed by king Yudhishthira the just, Santanu's son began to discourse to him once again, in detail on the merits attaching to the gift of kine. "'Bhishma said, "By giving unto a Brahmana a cow possessed of a calf, endued with docility and other virtues, young in years, and wrapped round with a piece of cloth, one becomes cleansed of all one's sins. There are many regions (in Hell) which are sunless. One who makes the gift of a cow has not to go thither. That man, however, who gives unto a Brahmana a cow that is incapable of drinking or eating, that has her milk dried up, that is endued with senses all of which have been weakened, and that is diseased and overcome with decrepitude, and that may, therefore, be likened to a tank whose water has been dried up,—indeed, the man who gives such a cow unto a Brahmana and thereby inflicts only pain and disappointment upon him, has certainly to enter into dark Hell. That cow which is wrathful and vicious, or diseased, or weak or which has been purchased without the price agreed upon having been paid,—or which would only afflict the regenerate recipient with distress and disappointment, should never be given. The regions such a man may acquire (as the rewards of other acts of righteousness performed by him) would fail to give him any happiness or impart to him any energy. Only such kine as are strong, endued with good behaviour, young in years, and possessed of fragrance, are applauded by all (in the matter of gift). Verily, as Ganga is the foremost of all rivers, even so is a Kapila cow the foremost of all kine. "'Yudhishthira said, "Why, O grandsire, do the righteous applaud the gift of a Kapila cow (as more meritorious) when all good kine that are given away should be regarded as equal? O thou of great puissance, I wish to hear what the distinction is that attaches to a Kapila cow. Thou art, verily, competent to discourse to me on this topic!" "'Bhishma said, "I have, O son, heard old men recite this history respecting the circumstances under which the Kapila cow was created. I shall recite that old history to thee! In days of yore, the Self-born Brahman commanded the Rishi Daksha, saying,—'Do thou create living creatures!' From desire of doing good to creatures, Daksha, in the first instance, created food. Even as the deities exist, depending upon nectar, all living creatures, O puissant one, live depending upon the sustenance assigned by Daksha. Among all objects mobile and immobile, the mobile are superior.