Vasishtha said The kine which had been created in former age practised the hardest penances for a hundred thousand years with the objects of acquiring a position of great preeminence.

Indeed, O scorcher of enemies, they said to themselves. We shall, in this world, become the best of all kinds of presents in sacrifices, and we shall not be liable to be sullied with any fault.

By bathing in water mixed with our dung, people shall become purified. The celestials and men shall use our dung for the purpose of purifying all creatures mobile and immobile. They also who will give us away shall acquire those regions of happiness which will be ours.

Appearing to them at the termination of their austerities, the powerful Brahman gave them the boons they sought, sayingyour desire will be fulfilled. Do you rescue all the worlds.

Crowned with fruition of their desires, they all rose upthose mothers of both the Past and the Future. Every morning, people should bow respectfully to kine. As the result of this, they are sure to acquire prosperity.

At the termination of their penances, O king, kine became the refuge of the world. It is therefore that kine are said to be highly blessed, sacred, and the foremost of all things. It is therefore that kine are said to stay at the very head of all creatures.

By giving away a Kapila cow with a calf resembling herself, giving profuse milk, free from every vicious habit, and covered with a piece of cloth, the giver acquires great honours in the region of Brahma.

By giving away a red cow with a calf that resembes herself, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires great honours in the region of the Sun.

By giving away a cow of variegated hue, with a calf similar to herself, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires great honours in the region of Soma.

By giving away a white cow, with a calf similar to herself, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires great honours in the region of Indra.

By giving away a cow of dark hue, with a calf similar to herself, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires great honours in the region of FireGod.

By giving away a smokecolored cow, with a calf similar to herself, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, onc acquires great honours in the region of Yama.

By giving away a frothycoloured cow, with a calf and vessel of white brass for milking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires the region of Varuna.

By giving away a dustcoloured cow, with a calf and a vessel of white brass for malking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one : acquires great honours in the region of the WindGod.

By giving away a goldhued cow, having eyes of a tawny colour, with a calf and a vessel of white brass for making her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one enjoys the happiness of the region of Kubera.

By giving away a cow of the hue of the smoke of straw, with calf and a vessel of white brass for milking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires great honours in the region of the departed Manes.

By giving away a fat cow with the flesh of its throat hanging down and accompanied by her calf, one acquires easily the high region of the Vishvedevas.

By giving away a Gouri cow, with a calf similar to her, giving milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquire the region of the Vasus,

By giving away a cow of the hue of a white blanket, with a calf and a vessel of white brass, and covered with a piece of cloth, one acquires the region of the Saddhyas.

By giving away a bull with a huge hump and adorned with every jewel, the giver, O king, acquires the region of the Maruts.

By giving away a bluecoloured bull, that is fullgrown in years and adorned with every ornament, the giver acquires the regions of the celestial musicians and nymphs.

By giving away a cow with the flesh of her throat hanging down, and adorned with every ornament, the giver, shorn of grief, acquires the region of Prajapati himself.

That man, O king, who habitually makes gifts of kine, proceeds passing through the clouds, on a sunny car to the celestial region and shines there in splendour.

That man who habitually makes gifts of kine is considered as the foremost of his kind. When thus proceeding to celestial region, he is received by a thousand celestiai damsels of beautiful hips and adorned with handsome dresses and ornaments. Those girls serve him there and minister to his delight.

He sleeps there in peace and is awakened by the musical laughter of those gazelleeyed maidens, the sweet notes of their Vinas, the soft strains of their lutes, and the sweet tinkle of their Nupuras.

The man who makes gifts of kine lives in the celestial region and is honoured there for as many years as there are hairs on the bodies of the kine he gives away. Falling off from the celestial region (upon the termination of his merit), such a man is born as a man and, in fact, in a superior family among men.