Goddess in the form of a cow

[Sarasvati]

I'm doing a bit of research here: I'd like to know if there are other Goddesses who appear in the shape of a cow, other than Bhumi and Surabhi. Somewhere I heard Prithivi, but I don't even know who She is. In one list the name Suki was mentioned as "India goddess", but whether that referred to Native Indian or East Indian, I'm not sure. And how is She connected to cows?

 

So, anyone can help me with this?

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Prithvi is another name for Bhumi.

 

[Avinash]

More on what J.N.Das ji has written. The name Prithvi was given after King Prthu who used proper form of agriculture in order to get food from earth.

[Sarasvati]

Hey, that's interesting, Avinash. Thanks! Where did you get that story? SB? Can you give me a quick synopsis of it? What do you mean by "proper form of agriculture"?

[Avinash]

I got this story from S.B. as you have guessed. Once during the reign of king Prthu, there was very little crop production. People were dying of hunger. Prthu came to know that Earth had hidden food within herself. I am not sure but this story seems to be allegorical. Anyway, the story says that Prthu decided to punish Earth. So, he took bow and arrow. Earth got afraid and took the form of a cow. She started running away. But when she found that she could not escape Prthu, then she came to Prthu and requested him not to kill her. She explained to Prthu how he could get food. She told him to level her surface by breaking some of hills. She also told him to do ploughing and watering. After all this was done, then there was good crop production.

[xxvvii]

Recently I read an article on net, which says that Greek goddess gaia (root: ge - skt. ja) is in cow's form.

 

[This message has been edited by xxvvii (edited 06-08-2002).]

[bhaktajoy]

In hindi cow is called gai.In NDE's they see Earth as a giant cosmic being and her name gaia.

 

[This message has been edited by bhaktajoy (edited 06-09-2002).]

[Gauracandra]

In hindi cow is called gai.In NDE's they see Earth as a giant cosmic being and her name gaia.

Is this true? I need to start noting these sorts of things down. You see I always find little similarities between various “myths” of disparate cultures but I never record them. For instance, I have heard that in some native American tribes they have a story about how a cow’s leg’s were broken and it brought about the change in four ages. In the Vedic tradition, the earth is mother and takes the form of a cow. I have seen much evidence of similarities between Greek and Vedic culture. So if the Greeks saw the earth goddess as taking the form of a cow, and if the word cow in hindi is gai, I think that would be something interesting to note.

[xxvvii]

In NDE's they see Earth as a giant cosmic being and her name gaia.

---- "Why We Are Here", fn: oakford.doc

 

For instance, I have heard that in some native American tribes they have a story about how a cow’s leg’s were broken and it brought about the change in four ages.

---- the same as a dream in Bible

[abhi_the_great]

Originally posted by Gauracandra:

I have seen much evidence of similarities between Greek and Vedic culture. So if the Greeks saw the earth goddess as taking the form of a cow, and if the word cow in hindi is gai, I think that would be something interesting to note.

yes, cow is called Gaai or gaia in hindi.

 

Gaurachandra, I was also very surprised to see many small similarities in ancient Greek and Indian cultures.

 

There is a nice book called "Ancient Philosophies" from Philosophic Classics. It lists many beliefs of different pre-socrates philosophers and thinkers.

 

Pythagoras:

 

1. Worship and sacrificce without your shoes on

2.follow the god and restrain your tounge above all else

3. when you are out from home, look not back for the furies cine after you.

4. spit upon trimming your hairs and finger nails.

5. abstain from beans (maybe ekadasi )

6. life, he said, is like a festival; just as some come to the festival to compete, some to ply their trade, but the bes people come as spectators, so in life the slavish men go hunting for fame or gain, the philosophers for the truth.

7.Pythagoras also believed in the dualism of body and soul.

[Gauracandra]

A while back I put together a string of posts about Greek and Vedic civilization. That posting can be found here:

 

http://www.indiadivine.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000265.html

 

 

It concern's principally the story of Atlantis. While many people dismiss that story, it is as clear as can be that it is describing a varna system for society.

[Guest guest]

 

Ancient greek,latin,germanic/norse, Keltoi(celtic),and indeed almost every single european language and culture has it's origins in India.

 

This was discovered 200 years ago, while european scholars were first studying sanskrit, they discovered that european languages,which were previously thought to be derived from hebrew,were in fact all related to sanskrit.

 

The older a language was the more similar it was to sanskrit.

They concocted the proto-indo european culture and language theory(prior to world war 2 called the indo-aryan theory),to explain away the possibility of India being the source culture for Europe.

 

The reality is that in ancient times prior to ancient greece or the celtic society when europe was completely tribal,three great civilizations dominated, in Egypt;the old kingdom,centered around the nile. In the Euphrates river valley Sumeria. And in India the largest and most accomplished civilization flourished, streching from Iran to the Bay of Bengal.

 

These were trading empires,India due to it's large size and natural resources,and situated between the far east and europe,was the largest trading empire of it's day.

 

Artifacts have been found in iceland and scandanavia from that empire.Due to their trading activities certainly merchants settled in and around Europe.

 

Their language and culture influenced the tribal peoples,creating a sanskrit based language for most of europe,and similar themes in the ancient religions.

[Guest guest]

She was married to the God Osiris, who only initially, had the shape of a Bull (probably originary from India).

 

[Guest guest]

Continuation from above.

 

In the same way as Abraham, the founder of the Jewish people, was married with his sister,

 

The Egyptian godess Isis, represented by a cow, was married to her brother. This couple were considered to be the 'founders' of the Egyptians.

 

Their son Horus (aso Iesus), represented by a hawk or a golden calf, was born miraculously from his virgin mother Isis-Merion, on Dec. 25th.