Cow-worship: Its Later Development.
Though cow-worship was little known in the Vedic period, by the time of the compilation of the Institutes of Manu it had become part of the popular belief. He classes the slaughter of a cow or bull among the deadly sins; “the preserver of a cow or a Brâhman atones for the crime of killing a priest;”[83] and we find constant references in the mediæval folk-lore to the impiety of the Savaras and other Drâvidian races who killed and ate the sacred animal. Saktideva one day, “as he was standing on the roof of his palace, saw a Chandâla coming along with a load of cow’s flesh, and said to his beloved Vindumatî: ‘Look, slender one! How can the evil-doer eat the flesh of cows, that are the object of veneration to the three worlds?’ Then Vindumatî, hearing that, said to her husband: ‘The wickedness of this act is inconceivable; what can we say in palliation of it? I have been born in this race of fishermen for a very small offence owing to the might of cows. But what can atone for this man’s sin?’”[84]
Re-birth through the Cow.
When the horoscope forebodes some crime or special calamity, the child is clothed in scarlet, a colour which repels evil influences, and tied on the back of a new sieve, which, as we have seen, is a powerful fetish. This is passed through the hindlegs of a cow, forward through the forelegs towards the mouth, and again in the reverse direction, signifying the new birth from the sacred animal. The usual worship and aspersion take place, and the father smells his child, as the cow smells her calf. This rite is known as the Hiranyagarbha, and not long since the Mahârâja of Travancore was passed in this way through a cow of gold.[85]
The same idea is illustrated in the legend of the Pushkar Lake, which probably represents a case of that fusion of races which undoubtedly occurred in ancient times. The story runs that Brahma proposed to do worship there, but was perplexed where he should perform the sacrifice, as he had no temple on earth like the other gods. So he collected all the other gods, but the sacrifice could not proceed as Savitrî alone was absent; and she refused to come without Lakshmî, Pârvatî, and Indrânî. On hearing of her refusal, Brahma was wroth, and said to Indra: “Search me out a girl that I may marry her and commence the sacrifice, for the jar of ambrosia weighs heavy on my head.” Accordingly Indra went and found none but a Gûjar’s daughter, whom he purified, and passing her through the body of a cow, brought her to Brahma, telling him what he had done. Vishnu said: “Brâhmans and cows are really identical; you have taken her from the womb of a cow, and this may be considered a second birth.” Siva said: “As she has passed through a cow, she shall be called Gâyatrî.” The Brâhmans agreed that the sacrifice might now proceed; and Brahma having married Gâyatrî, and having enjoined silence upon her, placed on her head the jar of ambrosia and the sacrifice was performed.[86]
Respect Paid to the Cow.
The respect paid to the cow appears everywhere in folk-lore. We have the cow Kâmadhenû, known also as Kâmadughâ or Kâmaduh, the cow of plenty, Savalâ, “the spotted one,” and Surabhî, “the fragrant one,” which grants all desires. Among many of the lower castes the cow-shed becomes the family temple.[87] In the old ritual, the bride, on entering her husband’s house, was placed on a red bull’s hide as a sign that she was received into the tribe, and in the Soma sacrifice the stones whence the liquor was produced were laid on the hide of a bull. When a disputed boundary is under settlement, a cow skin is placed over the head and shoulders of the arbitrator, who is thus imbued with the divine influence, and gives a just decision. It is curious that until quite recently there was a custom in the Hebrides of sewing up a man in the hide of a bull, and leaving him for the night on a hill-top, that he might become a spirit medium.[88] The pious Hindu touches the cow’s tail at the moment of dissolution, and by her aid he is carried across the dread river of death. I have more than once seen a criminal ascend the scaffold with the utmost composure when he was allowed to grasp a cow’s tail before the hangman did his office. The tail of the cow is also used in the marriage ritual, and the tail of the wild cow, though nowadays only used by grooms, was once the symbol of power, and waved over the ruler to protect him from evil spirits. Quite recently I found that one of the chief Brâhman priests at the sacred pool of Hardwâr keeps a wild cow’s tail to wave over his clients, and scare demons from them when they are bathing in the Brahma Kund or sacred pool.