पालयामास गा यत्तो रात्र्यां वीरासनव्रतः ॥३॥
pṛṣadhras tu manoḥ putro
go-pÄlo guruá¹‡Ä ká¹›taḥ
pÄlayÄm Äsa gÄ yatto
rÄtryÄá¹ vÄ«rÄsana-vrataḥ
pṛṣadhraḥ tu - among them, Pṛṣadhra; manoḥ - of Manu; putraḥ - the son; go-pÄlaḥ - herding cows; guruá¹‡Ä - by the order of his spiritual master; ká¹›taḥ - having been engaged; pÄlayÄm Äsa - he protected; gÄḥ - cows; yattaḥ - so engaged; rÄtryÄm - at night; vÄ«rÄsana-vrataḥ - taking the vow of vÄ«rÄsana, standing with a sword.
Among these sons, Pṛṣadhra, following the order of his spiritual master, was engaged as a protector of cows. He would stand all night with a sword to give the cows protection.
One who becomes vÄ«rÄsana takes the vow to stand all night with a sword to give protection to the cows. Because Pṛṣadhra was engaged in this way, it is to be understood that he had no dynasty. We can further understand from this vow accepted by Pṛṣadhra how essential it is to protect the cows. Some son of a ká¹£atriya would take this vow to protect the cows from ferocious animals, even at night. What then is to be said of sending cows to slaughterhouses? This is the most sinful activity in human society.
