With reverence, homage is offered to Nārada, the sage who knows the deepest rites concerning the cow. A question is posed to him: “Among all the cows, which is the most terrible, the giving of which would bring utter ruin to the giver?” The reply comes through the wisdom of Bṛhaspati: “The ointment-cow and the charioteer’s cow—these are not to be eaten by a non-Brāhmaṇa who seeks prosperity. There are, in truth, three kinds of cows: the ointment-cow, the charioteer’s cow, and the ordinary cow. All these should rightly be given to the Brāhmaṇas; by doing so, one remains included in the sacrifice of Prajāpati.” When asked for a cow, one should think, “Let this be my oblation, O Brāhmaṇas.” If pressed for a gift, let him give up the cow that is most terrible in his house. Once, the gods themselves surrounded the cow of plenty, withholding her from mortals despite their praises. Through hymns, they broke her, and so defeat befell the one who tried to claim her. Yet, the one who broke her did not take her, even though he begged Indra for her. Because of this, the gods cut him off from the sacred act, and he was excluded from the blessings that followed. Those who use flattery and deceit in the giving of the cow of plenty, seeking favor, are ensnared by Indra’s anger, which falls upon them like a net, cutting them off in their folly. And those who say, “Do not give the herdsman’s cow, drive him away,” let them be surrounded by the weapons of Rudra in their ignorance. If anyone, whether he cooks and offers the cow of plenty or eats her himself, acts crookedly in the rite, he casts out the gods, priests, and sacrificers from their worlds. The cow herself was created through toil and austerity, established by the power of Brahman. She stands firm in knowledge, covered with truth, wrapped in splendor, and enveloped by glory. She is sustained by self-rule, surrounded by faith, protected by consecration, and rooted in sacrifice; she is the very foundation of the world. Brahman is her path, and the Brahmin is her rightful lord. Whoever takes this cow of Brahman from a Brahmin conquers the Kshatriya, but at a great cost: truth leaves him, as do strength, virtue, and good fortune. For from such a one depart energy, brilliance, might, strength, speech, senses, prosperity, and righteousness. Brahman, sovereignty, kingdom, people, radiance, fame, luster, and wealth all abandon him. Life, form, name, renown, breath, expiration, sight, and hearing—all these are lost. Milk, taste, food, what is eaten, truth, reality, works, gifts, offspring, and cattle—these too desert the one who takes the cow of Brahman from a Brahmin, even if he overcomes the Kshatriya. Behold the terrible cow of Brahman: poison-mouthed, manifestly dreadful, wrapped with riverbank grass. Within her dwell all horrors and all deaths. All cruel deeds and acts of killing are contained in her. When she is struck by the slayer of Brahmins, the devourer of the gods, she is cast down by the lord of death. She becomes a stain with a hundred wounds, the earth of the Brahmin-slayer. Therefore, let none who understands ever violate the cow of the Brāhmaṇas. The thunderbolt, swift and blazing, is kindled by Vaiśvānara. A missile, digging out hooves, lies in wait for the great god. Sharpened like a razor, watched and quivering, it strikes when provoked. Death itself, fierce and resounding, circles around her tail. The all-conquering one, avoiding the ears, shuns the best, bringing royal disease and disorder. The stain, as she is milked, is drawn out like the head-cutting one. The seat, as it rises, is touched in mutual strife. The arrow, pressed at the mouth, strikes upon command. Poison falls, darkness descends. Following the very breaths of life, she draws near the cow of the Brahmin-slayer. Enmity is transformed; inheritance is divided from the grandson. The divine missile, once taken away, brings increase to another. Sin is placed, harshness and killing ensue. Poison is cast, fever is thrown down. Thus, the story of the cow is one of sacredness and peril, of gifts and consequences, of cosmic order and dire retribution. The cow of the Brāhmaṇas is not to be violated, for within her lies the foundation of the world and the fates of those who honor or transgress her sanctity.