Rig Veda · 1006 of 1027
Mandala 10: HYMN CLXIX. COWS.
1.MAY the wind blow upon our Cows with healing: may they eat herbage full of vigorous juices. May they drink waters rich in life and fatness: to food that moves on feet be gracious, Rudra.
2.Like-coloured, various-hued, or single-coloured, whose names through sacrifice are known to Agni, Whom the Aṅgirases produced by Fervour,—vouchsafe to these, Parjanya, great protection.
3.Those who have offered to the Gods their bodies, whose varied forms are all well known to Soma,— Those grant us in our cattle-pen, O Indra, with their full streams of milk and plenteous offspring.
4.Prajāpati, bestowing these upon me, one-minded with all Gods and with the Fathers, Hath to our cow-pen brought auspicious cattle: so may we own the offspring they will bear us.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn ask different gods (Rudra, Parjanya, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati) for the cows' well‑being?
The hymn calls specific gods because each god governs a different aspect of cattle prosperity: Rudra for healing, Parjanya for rain and protection, Agni for sacrificial identity, Indra for milk and offspring, and Prajāpati for bestowal and generative blessing. Naming them ties everyday needs—food, water, health, lineage—to the cosmic powers who make those goods possible, treating cows as both economic resources and sacred recipients of divine care.
This pattern matches other Vedic hymns that assign functions to deities, as in Rig Veda Book 1 where Indra brings cattle and Agni mediates offerings; the poem stitches ritual, ecology, and kinship by appealing to each god’s role. The result is a compact ritual theology: secure the gods who supply rain, healing, sacrificial presence, fertility, and ownership, and the herd thrives.
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