Listen to the tale of the terrible cow of Brahman, whose mouth is filled with poison and whose presence is manifestly dreadful. She is wrapped with the grass of the riverbank, a sight that invokes awe and fear. Within her dwell all horrors and all deaths; every cruel deed and every act of killing a person finds its home in her. When struck by the slayer of Brahmins—the devourer of gods—she is cast down by the lord of death himself. She becomes a stain with a hundred wounds, the very earth of the Brahmin-slayer. Because of this, the cow of the Brahmins is not to be violated by one who understands. The thunderbolt, kindled by Vaiśvānara, rushes forth. A missile, digging out hooves, waits for the great god. Sharpened like a razor and watched closely, it quivers when struck. Fierce death, making a sound like thunder, circles around her tail. The all-conquering one avoids her ears and shuns the best, while royal disease and urination are avoided. The stain is milked out—the head-cutting one is drawn forth. The seat stands up, and mutual fighting ensues as it is touched. The arrow is pressed at the mouth; the order is struck. Poison falls, darkness descends. Following the breaths, she draws near—the Brahmin-cow of the Brahmin-slayer. Enmity is transformed, inheritance from the grandson is divided. The divine missile is taken away, and with it, increase is removed. Sin is placed, harshness is killed. Poison is thrown, fever is cast down. Evil, destruction, and bad dreams ripen. The earth itself is uprooted at its roots and overturned. Without consciousness and robbed of its fragrance, venomous snakes are lifted out. Loss is carried away, defeat is taken away. Śarva, enraged, crushes all; flesh is crushed. Nirṛti, the devourer, devours and is devoured. She who devours cuts off worlds—the cow of Brahman, the Brahman-wife—from here and from there. Her killing is accomplished by witchcraft, and Menirā’s command binds her tightly. She is deprived of her own, abandoned. Agni, becoming flesh-eating, enters and devours the cow of Brahman, the Brahman-wife. He cuts all her limbs, joints, and roots, severs her paternal kin, and drives away her maternal kin. She destroys all marriages and relatives—the cow of Brahman, the Brahman-wife—when not returned by the Kṣatriya. He who takes her makes himself homeless, without his own, without offspring; he becomes without refuge and is diminished. Whoever, knowing thus, the Kṣatriya takes the cow from the Brāhmaṇa. Quickly, at her killing, vultures make carrion of her. Swiftly, at her burning, hairy women dance around, striking evil carrion with their hands upon her chest. In her dwelling, wolves make carrion just as quickly. They ask about what happened then—whether this or that. And the command rings out: Cut, cut, cut forth; destroy, destroy completely.