Mahabharata 13.65.36

13.65.36

gāvo'dhikāstapasvibhyo yasmātsarvebhya eva ca |
tasmānmaheśvaro devastapastābhiḥ samāsthitaḥ || 36 ||

After this, O sinless one, I shall discourse to thee on the subject of the gift of kine. Kine are regarded as superior to all the ascetics. And since it is so, the divine Mahadeva for that reason performed penance in their company. Kine, O Bharata, dwell in the region of Brahman, in the company of Soma. Constituting as it does the highest end, regenerate Rishis crowned with success strive to attain to that very region. Kine benefit human beings with milk, ghee, curds, dung, skin, bones, horns, and hair, O Bharata. Kine do not feel cold or heat. They always work. The season of rains also cannot afflict them at all. And since kine attain to the highest end (viz., residence in the region of Brahman), in the company of Brahmanas, therefore do the wise say that king and Brahmanas are equal. In days of yore, king Rantideva performed a grand sacrifice in which an immense number of kine were offered up and slaughtered. From the juice that was secreted by the skins of the slaughtered animals, a river was formed that came to be called by the name of Charmanwati. Kine no longer form animals fit for sacrifice. They now constitute animals that are fit for gift. That king who makes gifts of kine unto the foremost of Brahmanas, O monarch, is sure to get over every calamity even if he falls into it. The man who makes a gift of a thousand kine has not to go to hell. Such a person, O ruler of men, obtains victory everywhere.