Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c17.s2.24

v1.c17.s2.24

³ The Brahman Vasishtha possessed a cow named Savala, so fruitful that with her assistance he could accomplish whatever he desired. By her aid he entertained King Vishvamitra and his army. It is evident that this cow denotes some tract of country which the priest held (bearing in mind that gao, prithivi, signify ‘the earth,’ as well as ‘cow’): a grant, beyond doubt, by some of Vishvamitra’s unwise ancestors, and which he wished to resume. From her were supplied “the oblations to the gods and the pitrideva (father-gods, or ancestors), the perpetual sacrificial fire, the burnt-offerings and sacrifices.” This was “the fountain of devotional acts”; this was the Savala for which the king offered “a hundred thousand cows”; this was “the jewel of which a king only should be proprietor.”—The subjects of the Brahman appeared not to relish such transfer, and by “the lowing of the cow Savala” obtained numerous foreign auxiliaries, which enabled the Brahman to set his sovereign at defiance. Of these “the Pahlavi (Persian) kings, the dreadful Sakas (Sakai), and Yavanas (Greeks), with scymitars and gold armour, the Kambojas,” etc., were each in turn created by the all-producing cow. The armies of the Pahlavi kings were cut to pieces by Vishvamitra; who at last, by continual reinforcements, was overpowered