1'I give,' he shall surely say,'the sterile cow to the begging Brahmans'--and they have noted her- -that brings progeny and offspring!

2With his offspring does he trade, of his cattle is he deprived, that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the begging descendants of the Rishis.

3Through (the gift of) a cow with broken horns his (cattle) breaks down, through a lame one he tumbles into a pit, through a mutilated one his house is burned, through a one-eyed one his property is given away.

4Flow of blood attacks the cattle-owner from the spot where her dung is deposited: this understanding there is about the vasâ (the sterile cow); for thou (sterile cow) art said to be very difficult to deceive!

5From the resting-place of her feet the (disease) called viklindu overtakes (the owner, or the cattle). Without sickness breaks down (the cattle) which she sniffs upon with her nose.

6He that pierces her ears is estranged from the gods. He thinks: 'I am making a mark (upon her),' (but) he diminishes his own property.

7If any one for whatsoever purpose cuts her tail then do his colts die, and the wolf tears his calves.

8If a crow has injured her hair, as long as she is with her owner then do his children die: decline overtakes them without (noticeable) sickness.

9If the serving-maid sweeps together her dung, that bites as lye, there arises from this sin disfigurement that passeth not away.

10The sterile cow in her very birth is born for the gods and Brâhmanas. Hence to the Brahmans she is to be given: that, they say, guarantees the security of one's own property.

11For those that come requesting her the cow has been created by the gods. Oppression of Brahmans it is called, if he keeps her for himself.

12He that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the descendants of the Rishis who ask for it, infringes upon the gods, and the wrath of the Brâhmanas.

13Though he derives benefit from this sterile cow, another (cow) then shall he seek! When kept she injures (his) folk, if he refuses to give her after she has been asked for!

14The sterile cow is as a treasure deposited for die Brâhmanas: they come here for her, with whomsoever she is born.

15The Brâhmanas come here for their own, when they come for the sterile cow. The refusal of her is, as though he were oppressing them in other concerns. I& If she herds up to her third year, and no disease is discovered in her, and he finds her to be a sterile cow, O Nârada, then must he look for the Brâhmanas.

17If he denies that she is sterile, a treasure deposited for the gods, then Bhava and Sarva, both, come upon him, and hurl their arrow upon him.

18Though he does not perceive upon her either udder, or tits, yet both yield him milk, if he has prevailed upon himself to give away the sterile cow.

19Hard to cheat, she oppresses him, if, when asked for, he refuses to give her. His desires are not fulfilled, if he aims to accomplish them without giving her away.

20The gods did ask for the sterile cow, making the Brâhmana their mouthpiece. The man that does not give (her) enters into the wrath of all of these.

21Into the wrath of the cattle enters he that gives not the sterile cow to the Brâhmanas; if he, the mortal, appropriates the share deposited for the gods.

22Even if a hundred other Brâhmanas beg the owner for the sterile cow, yet the gods did say anent her: 'The cow belongs to him that knoweth thus.'

23He that refuses the sterile cow to him that knoweth thus, and gives her to others, difficult to dwell upon is for him the earth with her divinities.

24The gods did beg the sterile cow of him wilh whom she was born at first. That very one Nârada recognised and drove forth in company with the gods.

25The sterile cow renders childless, and poor in cattle, him that yet appropriates her, when she has been begged for by the Brâhmanas.

26For Agni and Soma, for Kâma, for Mitra, and for Varuna, for these do the Brâhmanas beg her: upon these he infringes, if he gl ves her not.

27As long as the owner does not himself hear the stanzas referring to (the giving away of) her, she may herd among his cattle; (only) if he has not heard (them) may she pass the night in his house.

28He that has listened to the stanzas, yet has permitted her to herd among the cattle, his life and prosperity the angry gods destroy.

29The sterile cow, even when she rambles freely, is a treasure deposited for the gods. Make evident thy true nature when thou desirest to go to thy (proper) stable!

30She makes evident her nature when she desires to go to her (proper) stable. Then indeed the sterile cow puts it into the minds of the Brahmans to beg (for her).

31She evolves it in her mind, that (thought) reaches the gods. Then do the Brahmans come to beg for the sterile cow.

32The call svadhâ befriends him with the Fathers, the sacrifice with the gods. Through the gift of the sterile cow the man of royal caste incurs not the anger of (her), his mother.

33The sterile cow is the mother of the man of royal caste: thus was it from the beginning. It is said to be no (real) deprivation if she is given to the Brahmans.

34As if he were to rob the ghee ladled up for Agni (the fire) from the (very) spoon, thus, if he gives not the sterile cow to the Brahmans, does he infringe upon Agni.

35The sterile cow has the purodasa (sacrificial cake) for her calf, she yields plentiful milk, helps in this world, and fulfils all wishes for him that gives her (to the Brahmans).

36The sterile cow fulfils all wishes in the kingdom of Yama for him that gives her. But they say

37The sterile cow, even if she should become fruitful, lives in anger at her owner: 'since he did regard me as sterile (without giving me to the Brahmans), he shall be bound in the fetters of death!' 38, He who thinks that the cow is sterile, and (yet) roasts her at home, even his children qnd grandchildren Brihaspati causes to be importuned (for her).

39Fiercely does the (supposed) sterile cow burn when she herds with the cattle, though she be a (fruitful) cow. She verily, too, milks poison for the owner that does not present her.

40It pleases the cattle when she is given to the Brahmans; moreover, the sterile cow is pleased, when she is made an offering to the gods (Brahmans).

41From the sterile cows which the gods, returning from the sacrifice, created, Nârada picked out as (most) terrible the viliptî.

42In reference to her the gods reflected: 'Is she a sterile cow, or not?' And Nârada in reference to her said: 'Of sterile cows she is the most sterile!'

43'How many sterile cows (are there), O Nârada, which thou knowest to be born among men?' About these do I ask thee, that knowest: 'Of which may the non-Brâhmana not eat?'

44Of the viliptî, of her that has born a sterile cow, and of the sterile cow (herself), the non- Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat!

45Reverence be to thee, O Nârada, that knowest thoroughly which sterile cow is the most terrible, by withholding which (from the Brahmans) destruction is.incurred.

46The viliptî, O Brihaspati, her that has, begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat!

47Three kinds, forsooth, of sterile cows are there: the viliptî, she that has begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself). These he shall give to the Brahmans; (then) does he not estrange himself from Pragâpati.

48'This is your oblation, O Brâhmanas,' thus shall he reflect, if he is supplicated, if they ask him for the sterile cow, terrible in the house of him that refuses to give her.

49The gods animadverted in reference to Bheda and the sterile cow, angry because he had not given her, in these verses-and therefore he (Bheda) perished.

50Bheda did not present the sterile cow, though requested by Indra: for this sin the gods crushed him in battle.

51The counsellors that advise the withholding (of the sterile cow), they, the rogues, in their folly, conflict with the wrath of Indra.

52They who lead the owner of cattle aside, then say to him: 'do not give,' in their folly they run into the missile hurled by Rudra.

53And if he roasts the sterile cow at home, whether he makes a sacrifice of her, or not, he sins against the gods and Brâhmanas, and as a cheat falls from heaven. {11001}