Kamadhenu

KAMADHENU, the sacred cow, is a part and parcel of Hindu mythology. She is the cow, which grants all wishes and desires. She is the cow of plenty, which emerged from SAMUDRAMANTHAN (the churning of the ocean) and taken by seven gods, who compose the constellation of the Great Bear in the sky. She is also called SURABHI, SHAVAL, ADITI and KAMDUH. She is the mother of all cows.

According to mythological accounts, Brahma created the Brahmins and the Cow at the same time, the Brahmins were to recite Vedas and scriptures while the cow was to afford ghee (clarified butter) for burnt-offerings in religious sacrifices. The cow is deemed to be the mother of gods and is declared by Brahma to be a proper object of worship. The unclean places are purified with cow-dung and in rural areas still the cow-dung is to be used to rub the ground of the doorway, which is the first act in the morning.

Amongst orthodox Hindus she is worshipped on the first of VAISHAKH, when Brahma created the cow. The milkmen paint the horns and hoofs of their cattle yellow or saffron and bathe them in the river. Whoever kills a cow or allows another to kill it, shall rot in hell, as many years as there are hairs upon his body. A child born under unlucky stars is passed under the body of a cow to offset the effects.

KAMADHENU - THE MOTHER OF ALL COWS

Moreover cow plays a very important role in the cult of god Krishna. It follows the cowherd Krishna through his life on earth and also symbolizes with its four legs the four Vedas of the Hindus. Every part of cow's body has a religious significance. Its horns symbolize the gods, its face the sun and the moon, its shoulders Agni, the god of fire, and its legs the Himalayas.

Cow also symbolizes Dharma itself. It is said to have stood steadily upon the earth with its four feet during the SATYUG (world's first age of truth), upon three feet during the, TRETAYUG (the second stage of less than perfection), upon two feet during the DWAPARYUG (the third stage of dwindling and disappearing perfection) and only on one leg during KALIYUG (the fourth and current age

Some temples and houses have images of Kamadhenu, which are worshipped. However, she has never had a worship cult dedicated to her and does not have any temples where she is worshipped as the chief deity. In Monier-Williams's words: "It is rather the living animal [the cow] which is the perpetual object of the object" Cows are often fed outside temples and worshiped regularly on all Fridays and on special occasions. Every cow to "a pious Hindu" is regarded as an Avatar (earthly embodiment) of the divine Kamadhenu

Kamadhenu-Surabhi's residence varies depending on different scriptures. The Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata tells how she was given the ownership of Goloka, the cow-heaven located above the three worlds (heaven, earth and netherworld): the daughter of Daksha, Surabhi went to Mount Kailash and worshipped Brahma for 10,000 years. The pleased god conferred goddess-hood on the cow and decreed that all people would worship her and her children – cows. He also gave her a world called Goloka, while her daughters would reside on earth among humans.

n one instance in the Ramayana, Surabhi is described to live in the city of Varuna – the Lord of oceans – which is situated below the earth in Patala (the netherworld). Her flowing sweet milk is said to form Kshiroda or the Kshirasagara, the cosmic milk ocean. In the Udyoga Parva book of the Mahabharata, this milk is said to be of six flavours and has the essence of all the best things of the earth.. The Udyoga Parva specifies that Surabhi inhabits the lowest realm of Patala, known as Rasatala, has for daughters – the Dikpalis – the guardian cow goddesses of the heavenly quarters: Saurabhi in the east, Harhsika in the south, Subhadra in the west and Dhenu in the north.

Apart from Goloka and Patala, Kamadhenu is also described as residing in the hermitages of the sages Jamadagni and Vashista. Scholar Mani explains the contradicting stories of Kamadhenu's birth and presence in the processions of many gods and sages by stating that while there could be more than one Kamadhenu, all of them are incarnations of the original Kamadhenu, the mother of cows.