Note 2 — Tale II. (continued 3)

Cows and oxen were always held in high estimation by the ancient Indians. The same word that stood for “cow” expressed also “the earth,” and both stand equally in the Vêda for symbols of fruitfulness and patient labouring for the benefit of others. The ox stands in the Manu for “uprightness” and “obedience to the laws.” In the Ramajana (ii. 74, 12) Surabhi, the cow-divinity (see the curious accounts of her origin in Lassen, i. 792 and note), is represented as lamenting that over the whole world her children are made to labour from morning to night at the plough under the burning sun. Cows were frequently devoted to the gods and left to go whithersoever they would, even in the midst of towns, their lives being held sacred (Lassen, i. 298). Kühn (Jahrbuch f. w. K. 1844, p. 102) quotes two or three instances of sacrifices of cows but they were very rare; either as sacrifices to the gods or as rigagna (“sacrifices to the living”) i. e. the offerings of hospitality to the living. The ox was reckoned peculiarly sacred to Shiva, and images were set up to him in the temples (see Lassen, i. 299). Butter was the most frequent object of sacrifice (ib. 298). The Manu (iii. 70) orders the Hôma or butter-sacrifice to be offered daily to the gods, and the custom still subsists (see Lassen, iii. 325). Other names for the cow were Gharmadhug = “giver of warm milk;” and Aghnjâ = “the not to be slain;” also Kâmadhênu or Kâmaduh = “the fulfiller of wishes,” and (in the Mahâ Bhârata) Nandunî = “the making to rejoice” (Lassen, i. 721). See also the story of Sabala, the heavenly cow of the Ramajana, in note 8 to “Vikramâditja’s Youth.” Oxen were not only used for ploughing, but also for charioteering and riding, and were trained to great swiftness. Ælianus (De Nat Anim. xv. 24) mentions that kings and great men did not think it beneath them to strive together in the oxen-races, and that the oxen were better racers than the horses, for the latter needed the spur while the former did not. An ox and a horse, and two oxen with a horse between them were often harnessed together in a chariot. He also mentions that there was a great deal of betting both by those whose animals were engaged in the race and by the spectators. The Manu, however (d. p. c. ix. 221—225), forbids every kind of betting under severe penalties. Ælianus mentions further the Kâmara, the long-haired ox or yak, which the Indians received from Tibet.