History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c40.61.2

v3.c40.61.2

The veneration for the cow has been so great that pañcagavya prepared from the five substances due to the cow viz. her milk, curds and ghee of her milk, her urine and dung mixed with water in which kuśa blades had been placed was looked upon as¹⁸⁵² purification for many lapses. Yāj. III. 314 mentions the ingredients of pañcagavya. The Baud. gṛ. śeṣa-sūtra (II. 20) contains an elaborate note on the preparation of pañcagavya, the quantities of the five ingredients, the Vedic verses to be recited when preparing it. Parāśara XI. 28-34, Devala 62-65, Laghuśātātapa 158-162, Matsyapurāṇa 267. 5-6 and other works contain similar rules. Parāśara prescribes that the urine, dung, milk, curds and ghee should be of cows the colours of which are respectively dark, white, copper-red, dark-red and brown or that all ingredients may be of a brown (kapilā) cow. There is some difference of view about colours and also about the quantities. According to Parāśara urine, ghee, and water should be one part each, curds three parts, milk seven parts and cowdung as much as the thumb. According to Atri. 299 dung, urine, ghee and milk were to be respectively 1, 2, 4 and 8 parts and curds also 8 parts. When mixing the ingredients, urine is taken with the sacred Gāyatrī, cowdung with ‘gandhadvārām’ (Tai. Ār. X. 1), milk with ‘āpyāyasva’ (Ṛg. I. 91. 16), curds with ‘dadhikrāvṇo’ (Ṛg. IV. 39. 6), ghee with ‘tejosi śukram’ (Vāj. S. 22. 1) and kuśa water with ‘devasya tvā’ (Ait. Br. 37. 3, Vāj. S. 22. 1).