The Arctic Home in the Vedas c11.33

c11.33

“In all these passages we find no *iva* or *na*, which would indicate that the word cow was used metaphorically. The dawns or days as they proceed from the dark stable, or are rescued from evil spirits, are spoken of directly as the cows. If they are spoken of in the plural, we find the same in the case of the Dawn (*ushas*) who is often conceived as many, as in II, 28, 2, *upâyane ushasâm gomatinâm*, ‘at the approach of the dawns with their cows.’ From that it required but a small step to speak of the one Dawn as the mother of the cows, IV, 52, 2, *mâtâ gavâm*.”