Post by Sumi on Aug 23, 2013 8:47:56 GMT 5.5
The cow belongs to the species which cannot speak. Yet, it cries out from the depth of its being ‘amma’. The cow that cries out ‘amma’ is for us like the mother. What is the outstanding quality of the mother? She gives milk. When we were children, our mother gave us milk and protected us. The cow also gave us milk even at that stage and protected us. Mother giving the milk ended with our childhood. But even after we have become old, the cow gives us milk and all that comes from it namely, curd, buttermilk, ghee. Even in our advanced age, when we can take only little of all other food, the cow’s milk serves as the life giving food. If our mother gives milk only for a short period of our life, the cow gives milk throughout our life. That is why we associate the cow with the greatest of relationships namely mother, and we call it ‘Gomatha’.
Everyone knows that the word ‘Go’ (Sanskrit) means the cow. The word ‘cow’ is also derived from ‘Go’. From time immemorial, the cow has been considered mother and great love has been shown to her. Even if we look at a cow which is a picture of love and peace we will get the feeling of seeing our mother. The mother who gives birth to the child is called ‘Janaka Matha’. Gomatha is among other mothers like Bhumatha and Srimatha.
Just as the real mother and Gomatha give milk, the earth produces grains, metals etc and more than anything else, gives water. That is why the earth is called Bhumatha. Our ancestors perceived motherhood in cow and the earth which appears inert and called them Gomatha and Bhumatha. It also happened that Bhumath herself took the form of Gomatha.
It was the time when Dwapara Yuga was about to end and just before Kali was to begin. When the cruelties inflicted by asuras became too much, Bhumatha could not bear it. At such a time, Bhumatha along with Brahma went to Mahavishnu and prayed to Him and as a result Mahavishnu took avathar as Krishna. The puranas say that Bhumatha took the form of Gomatha and went to Vishnu because she thought it would be possible to move the heart of Mahavishnu and make him come down for protection only if she went to him not as his wife, Bhumatha, but in the form of Gomatha who enjoyed greater love and sympathy. In accordance with that the Lord came as ‘Gopala’ and moved closely with cows.
‘Go’ also means the earth. Krishna was a ‘Purna Avatharam’. Bhagawan has also taken avathars by showing only one of his aspects. According to Bhagavatham, Bhagawan had twenty four avathars.
Of these, other than the ten avathars (Dasavatharam) which all of us know, the remaining fourteen are avathars of one or the other of the aspects (amsa). One such ‘amsa avathar’ was Brudhu Chakravarthi. He was the one who had organized the state, towns etc. In Bhagavatham, it is said that he saw Bhumatha in the form of Gomatha and made everyone receive from her the wealth that each wanted making use of his swadharma as the calf.
I have said this to show what great love Bhagawan had for the form of cow. Similarly, the cows also had great love for Bhagawan. When Bhagawan as Venugopala was keeping his left foot in the vertical position, a cow would be licking the lotus like bottom of that foot. This could be seen in paintings.
Just as there are Gomatha, Bhumatha and Janakamatha, there is also Srimatha who is a mother. The Parasakthi who is the very life of all the other three mothers as well as all the sentient and insentient things in the world is Srimatha. It is by the milk of grace that flows from her that the Janakamatha and Gomatha are able to give milk. It is by that grace too that Bhumatha gives the wealth of water and grains.
In Lalitha Sahasranamam, Gomatha has been mentioned as a name for Srimatha. The very first name in Sahasranamam is Srimatha. In the ‘Namavali’ (the row of names), the names Gurumurthih and Gunanidhih occur. In the Sthala purana of Therazhundur (Thanjavur district, Tamilnadu), it is said that Ambal, the Srimatha had actually come there as Gomatha. There is also a story which combines in it five or six Sthala puranas according to which Ambal’s brother Maha Vishnu later came there as Gopalakrishna, protected her when she was in the form of a cow and gave her in marriage to Parameswara, the Pasupathi.
Source: Deivathin Kural - Vol 7