gifts.  Gifts of kine should be made after ascertaining the distinctive qualifications of both Brahmanas (who are to receive them) and the kine themselves (which are to be given away).  Kine should not be given unto one in whose abode they are likely to suffer from fire or the sun.  That Brahmana who is possessed of Vedic lore, who is of austere penances, and who performs sacrifices, is regarded as worthy of receiving kine in gift.  Those kine that have been rescued from distress situation, or that have been given by poor householders from want of sufficient means to feed and cherish them, are, for these reasons, reckoned as of high value.[354] Abstaining from all food and living upon water alone for three nights and sleeping the while on the bare earth, one should, having properly fed the kine one intends to give away, give them unto Brahmanas after having gratified them also (with other gifts).  The kine given away should be accompanied by their calves.  They should, again, be such as to bring forth good calves, at the proper seasons.  They should be accompanied with other articles so given away.  Having completed the gift, the giver should live for three days on only milk and forbearing from food of every other kind.  He, who gives a cow that is not vicious, that brings forth good calves at proper intervals, and that does not fly away from the owners’ house, and accompanies such gift with a vessel of white brass for milking her, enjoys the felicity of heaven for as many years as are measured by the number of hairs on the animal’s body.  He, who gives unto a Brahmana a bull well-broken and capable of bearing burdens, possessed of strength and young in years, disinclined to do any mischief, large-sized and endued with energy, enjoys those regions, that are reserved for givers of kine.  He is regarded as a proper person for receiving a cow in gift who is known to be mild towards kine, who takes kine for his refuge, who is grateful, and who has no means of subsistence assigned unto him.  When an old man becomes ill, or when a Brahmana intends to perform a sacrifice, or when one wishes to till for agriculture, or when one gets a son through the efficacy of a Homa performed for the purpose, or for the use of one’s preceptor, or for the sustenance of a child (born in the usual way), one should give away a beloved cow.  Even these are the considerations that are applauded (in the matter of making gifts of kine) in respect of place and time.  The kine that deserve to be given away are those that yield copious measures of milk, or those that are well-known (for their docility and other virtues). or those that have been purchased for a price, or those that have been acquired as honoraria for learning, or those that have been obtained in exchange by offering other living creatures (such as sheep and goats, etc.), or those that have been won by prowess of arms, or those that have been gained as marriage-dower (from fathers-in-law and other relations of the wife).’