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Rig Veda · 469 of 1027
Mandala 6: HYMN XXVIII. Cows.
1.THE Kine have come and brought good fortune: let them rest in the cow-pen and be happy near us. Here let them stay prolific, many-coloured, and yield through many morns their milk for Indra.
2.Indra aids him who offers sacrifice and gifts: he takes not what is his, and gives him more thereto. Increasing ever more and ever more his wealth, he makes the pious dwell within unbroken bounds.
3.These are ne’er lost, no robber ever injures them: no evil-minded foe attempts to harass them. The master of the Kine lives many a year with these, the Cows whereby he pours his gifts and serves the Gods.
4.The charger with his dusty brow o’ertakes them not, and never to the shambles do they take their way. These Cows, the cattle of the pious worshipper, roam over widespread pasture where no danger is.
5.To me the Cows seem Bhaga, they seem Indra, they seem a portion of the first-poured Soma. These present Cows, they, O ye Indra. I long for Indra with my heart and spirit.
6.O Cows, ye fatten e’en the worn and wasted, and make the unlovely beautiful tolook on. Prosper my house, ye with auspicious voices. Your power is glorified in our assemblies.
7.Crop goodly pasturage and be prolific drink pure sweet water at good drinking places. Never be thief or sinful man your matter, and may the dart of Rudra still avoid you.
8.Now let this close admixture be close intermigled with these Cows, Mixt with the Steer’s prolific flow, and, Indra, with thy hero might.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call cows equivalent to gods like Indra and Bhaga?
The hymn treats cows as living offerings and sustainers of wealth: “To me the Cows seem Bhaga, they seem Indra,” because cattle embody prosperity, sacrificial worth, and social stability in Vedic life. Praising cows as divine names affirms that tending them secures gifts, long life, and safe pastures for the worshipper who serves the gods.
This identification also links ritual and cosmic order: cows supply milk, support yajña, and are described as “a portion of the first-poured Soma,” tying them into offerings and divine favor. The chapter’s language echoes themes in later texts like the Gṛhyasūtras, which treat cattle as central household wealth and ritual agents.
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