A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s2.41

v1.c8.s2.41

so a Vedic singer praises the god Indra on account of the miracle that he has put the shining white milk into the red or black cows. However, the high esteem in which cattle were held proved no obstacle to the slaughtering of cows, and especially of bullocks, at the sacrifices, and to the eating of their flesh. An absolute prohibition of cow-killing did not exist in the oldest times, although the word "aghnyā," "she who is not to be killed" for "cow" indicates that cows were killed only under exceptional circumstances.² Also the skin of the oxen was used. The tanner worked it up into leather bottles, strings of bows and straps. There were also already different kinds of industries. There was above all the wood worker—at once carpenter, carriage-builder, and cabinet-maker—who made especially the chariot. There were metal-workers, smiths, who used a bird's wings as bellows. Shipping was still in its first beginnings. A canoe provided with oars, probably consisting only of a hollowed-out treetrunk, served for the navigation of the rivers. Although the sea was known to the Vedic Indians, it is, to say the least, highly doubtful¹ whether there was yet an extensive maritime trade. However, it is certain that there were traders, and that an extensive trade was carried on, in which oxen and gold ornaments took the place of money. Besides oxen and horses, the Vedic singers implore the gods chiefly for gold, which they hope to receive as gifts from the rich sacrificers.