Holy Cow!

Being a chArvAk/lokAyatA means that I don't pray to a higher power anymore and don't believe in supernatural entities. This is only my current position and with very low likelihood it could change, if after years of sAdhanA I do discover what vedAntA or sAmkhyA promise. But I differ very much with other chArvAks, especially the ones heavily influenced by dogmatic 'monotheists' of the west (whose religion is 'secular humanism') like Dawkins, Hitchens and the rest. This is because I tend to find dhArmic thought much more palatable than 'angry-god monotheism' and its secular variants. At times, dhArmic thought is very beautiful, elevating and useful. This is because dhArmic thought apparently has no rigid dogmas without which it would collapse. This background is enough to clarify my position, and any detailed discussion will lead me too far away from the title--Holy cow.

While quarreling with my friend about the beef ban, I tried to impress upon him that respecting cows and all life forms in general has subconsciously been part of our nation's culture for millennia. That is why Babasaheb Ambedkar's constituent assembly added these lines to our constitution as part of directive principles of state policy:

"The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle."
From: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2672/

(Quite a nice link where one can download the original calligraphed copy of the constitution. Interestingly, the constitution has beautiful images of rishis, sItA and rAmA, gItopadesham, etc. Who would have thought Ambedkar and the rest of the constituent assembly were hindutvA bigots! ) 

After a while, it struck me that udaka shAnti of yajur veda has riks (loosely stanzas) called "go sUktam" literally "cow hymn". It turns out that go sUktam actually belongs rig veda, and has been included in udaka shAnti. udaka shAnti itself is quite a substantial work chanted before important occasions like upanayanam, sashtiabdhapUrti, etc., and is considered to be very auspicious. So I whipped out my udaka shAnti copy and located "go sUktam". Now, based on my baby sanskrit, translating classical sanskrit is possible with some effort. But rig vedic sanskrit is pre-pANiNI and very hard to translate on your own unless you've mastered the vedic language. It is like a tamil speaker trying to translate tiruvAsagam or paripAdal without a viLakka urai (vyAkhyA). They will not be able to translate more than a few lines accurately. But try I shall, to translate go sUktam by taking peeks at Griffith whenever I'm hopelessly stuck: http://www.sanskritweb.net/rigveda/griffith.pdf
A slightly hard to navigate Hindi translation by dayAnandA saraswatI is here http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/rugveda_v3/rugveda.htm
The padArth of dayAnandA is in overall agreement with Griffith, but his bhAvArth seems to include his own interpretations. So I shall stick to Griffith which is more of a literal translation.

Corrections or more accurate translations are welcome.  I've sporadically added my own little notes here and there. Translation is in green.

आगावो अग्मन्नुत भद्रमक्रन् |   

"The cows have come bringing good fortune,"--- The word bhadra found often in vedas which means good, auspicious, etc.

सीदन्तु गोष्ठे रणयन्त्वस्मे | 
"let them settle down in the goshthA (cow shed) and be happy close to us". --- raNayati means resounding, but being happy seems to suit the context better.
प्रजावतीः पुरुरूपा इहास्युः |
"Here let them be fertile, have many forms/colours." --- prajAvatI means pregnant
इन्द्राय पूर्वी रुषसो दुहानाः |
"For Indra, let them give milk."
इन्द्रो यज्वने पृणते च सिक्षति |
"Indra wishes to help those who worship him." --- यज्वन:  = one who worships
उपेद्ददाति न स्वं मुषायति | 
"He (Indra) gives their wishes and does not take what is his." --- Might make more sense if स्वं refers to the person singing to become "does not take what is ours".
भूयो भूयो रयिमिदस्य वर्धयन् |
"More and more his wealth grows"
अभिन्ने खिल्ले निदधाति देवयुम् |
"With unbroken bounds the pious are preserved". --- खिल्ले is not very clear here.
न ता नशन्ति न दभाति तस्करः | 
"They (the cows) are not lost, and not stolen by thieves"
नैना अमित्रो व्यतिरादधर्षति | 
"they are not injured by enemies."
देवगिस्च याभिर्यजते ददाति च |  
"He (the master of the cows) pours his gifts and serves the Gods."
ज्योगित्ताभिस्सचते गोपति: सह | 
"The cows live with their master for long" ---  गोपति: = master of cows
नता अर्वा रेणुककाटो अक्ष्नुते |       
नसग्गग् स्कृतत्र मुपयन्ति ता अभि |
उरुगायमभयन् तस्य ता अनु |
 "These Cows, the cattle of the pious worshipper,"
गावो मर्त्यस्य विचरन्ति यज्वनः | 
"roam without fear of injury"
गावो भगो गाव इन्द्रो मे अच्छात् | 
"The cows seem like bhagA (good fortune), they seem like Indra" -- bhaga can mean good fortune, prosperity, etc. It can also mean sensual pleasure.
गावः सोमस्य प्रथमस्य भक्षः |
"The cows seem like the first drink of soma" -- the same soma juice of soma yaga
इमा या गाव: सजनस इन्द्रः |       
इच्छामीद्धृदा मनसा चिदिन्द्रम् | 
"I long for Indra with my heart and spirit."--  This may mean "I long for Indra's blessings with my heart and spirit."
युयंगावो मेदयता कृशन्चित | 
"You cows fatten the worn and weak"
अश्लीलञ्चित् क्रुणुता सुप्रतीकम् | 
"and make the ugly look beautiful." -- अश्लील can mean uncultured also
भद्रं गृहं कृणुत भद्र वाचः |   
"Make our house prosper with your auspicious voice" -- Again भद्रं makes an appearance.
बृहद वो वय उच्यते सभासु |  
"Your power is glorified in our sabhAs." --- सभा = assembly/meeting. सभासु = in meetings
प्रजावती: सुयवसग्म् रिशन्तीः | 
"May you be fertile and graze good pastures" --- रिशति = crop/tear. Graze sounds better in translation. Griffith uses crop.
शुद्धा अपः सुप्रपाणे पिबन्तीः | 
"may you drink sweet water from clean places"
मावस्तेन ई शत मा घसग्म्सः |   
"May the thief and sinner not bother you" -- Griffith uses sinner for घस . It means meat eater in a negative connotation.
परिवो हेती रुद्रस्य व्रुञ्जात् |  
"may the dart of Rudra avoid you" --- Needed Griffith for everything except rudra
उपेदमुप पर्चनम् |                   
आसु गोषूप प्रुच्यताम् |    
"Let the cows mingle" 
उपर्षभस्य रेतसि |      
"with the rishabhA's sperm" ---rishabhA = bull, रेतस् = sperm
उपेन्द्र तव वीर्ये |        
"in the presence of Indra's energy."

This is the literal translation, and dayAnandA gives some other interpretations. But the literal translation speaks for itself. People wonder whether there is any folk literature in sanskrit or if it is purely an elitist language. One could argue that the vedas are the best examples of folk literature of sanskrit! When reciting/reading whatever little I memorized long ago with greater care, I find that these songs of our ancestors are definitely folk songs that celebrate a universal spirituality. Songs like these are still sung in the local languages by the villagers and tribals of today. There are people who go around making ridiculous statements such as "tribals are not hindUs". I'd say that tribal people who worship nature and their surroundings are much closer to the vedic religion than other present day hindUs who worship anthropomorphic purAnic deities.

What has been consciously written down in the rig veda is what we see practised, consciously or subconsciously, all over India. So right from such riks, to characterizing the hero of mahAbhAratA as the cowherd "gopAlA", to songs like "go mAtA engaL kulamAtA", we have revered cows as equals of gods and mothers. One among many practises that epitomizes the great attachment our communities have towards bovine animals is mAttu pongal and jallikkattu. Worshipping go mAtA, treating the bull as a worthy and equal rival, training him, wrestling with him bare handed and respecting his valour, all goes to show how these thoughts have permeated our psyche. People who are alienated from the traditions and who have not thought about these issues do not realize why villagers do such things in the first place and discard these ancient traditions of environmentalism as regressive. I cannot imagine the pain the communities that revere the bull and celebrated jallikkattu for centuries went through when the judges who have in no way experienced the kalAchAram banned it. Now thats a whole other train of thought.
A more peppy cow hymn :) Lyrics are not bad at all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aemJAKuw3PQ

Where is Rahul Gandhi?

After his party was thrashed in the LS elections,  RaGa was seen standing next to his mother, grinning cluelessly  while addressing the press.

Since then he has been missing from action and the congis are rudderless. Amit shah asked them to find where RaGa is before they tried to find holes in the land ordinance. Amit Shah is also useless because he cannot find RaGa. I think I might have some leads to help everyone. 

Chilling with Nemo in the depths of the ocean (Finding Rahul)

Trying to destroy the one ring with Frodo in Mordor (Lord of the Grins).

Taking physics tuition in an undisclosed location to find escape velocity of Jupiter (Jupter Escaping).

Sighting Padmini "olinjufying begind" one "thoon" (Thiruttumuzhi Mohanasundaram)

Bonding with horses and trying to go full retard in a secret farm (Simple Jackass)

Now go find him... Or wait. Maybe I am wrong, we should ask Rajdeep Sardesai who knows the mood of the nation and is a better spinner than Shane Warne. Anyway, I wish RaGa is hale and healthy and comes back to take over congis and drive them into the sunset.