The Arctic Home in the Vedas c11.19

c11.19

This account slightly differs from that given in the Aitareya Brâhmaṇa. In the Saṁhitâ the cows, whose session lasted for twelve months, are said to be still hornless; but instead of getting vigour (ûrjam), they are said to have obtained as a reward for their additional sitting, the pleasure of comfortable grazing in the two rainy months, during which, as the commentator observes, the horned cows find their horns an impediment to graze freely in the field, where new grass has grown up. But the statement regarding the duration of the Sattra, viz., that it lasted for ten or twelve months, is the same both in the Saṁhitâ and in the Brâhmaṇa. The Saṁhitâ again takes up the question in the next Anuvâka (VII, 5, 2, 1-2)¹, and further describes the cows' session as follows:—