Chapter 6.19 - Goshri debate

In the Dana dharma Parva of Mahabharata, Bhishma talks to Yudhishthira about the Goshri Debate.^[1]

Once, Shridevi went into the midst of cows. By seeing the beauty of the goddess, the cows were surprised. When the cows asked her who she is Shridevi told them her identity. She said that she would like to sit amidst the cows and requested them to allow her sit with them. They said that she is not stable as she goes on changing her dwelling and she enters different kinds of people and so they rejected her. But she continued pleading with them. Finally they said she could stay in their urine and dung.This is how the urine and dung of the cows became prosperous and pure.

There is no gift holier than godana. There is nothing equal to the cow; there won't be also. For various yajna, the hide, hair, horns, milk and ghee are used together. There is no creature that is nobler and better than a cow. There is none who is more reliable than a cow. The consecration of all the elements of the earth is on the cows. The wealth of cows is the purest wealth.