Datta Maata 130: Importance of Cow

As soon as we listen about the influence of cows, we are worried. There is tormenting of cows everywhere now. We must prevent that from happening. That violence must be given up. In the Hindu dharma, cows are revered a lot. A cow is the form of all the Gods. It is said to be the personification of Narayana and is referred to as "Gomatha" - Mother Cow. The scriptures proclaim that all the demigods starting from Brahma reside in the cow. When we say 'Govinda', it consists of the word 'Go' meaning cow. This implies that the cow is the part of Lord Narayana. That is why, serving cows is a part of daily lives. It is enough to offer prostrations to Gomatha by circumambulating for once around it - for inviting auspiciousness. The influence of cow is described in several puranas, and scriptures. In the life of sage Chyavana we see one such incident.

When Chyavana was very young, he got a resolution in his mind to do severe penance in water flow. He went to Prayaga at the confluence of Ganga - Yamuna during the rainy season and stood against the gushing water flow and started severe penance. He entered into samadhi state gradually. Several years passed by and Chyavana was still in water. The sage was static with no moment. His body became the home for bacteria and grass starting shooting out around him. He appeared as though there is grass in his place. Gradually, people around forgot about his existence itself.
After few days, fishermen throw a net into the water to catch hold of fish. But, along with the fish, they also found the sage Chyavana who appeared like grass from outside. The fishermen removed the trapped fish from the net and further removed the grass, weeds and bacteria and to their surprise, they found out a human form. They now became scared to find the body of a sage. The sage opened his eyes and said, "O fishermen, do not be scared. There is no mistake of yours at all in this. Catching the aquatic creatures and selling them is your duty. From several years, I am surviving here like an aquatic being. Trapped in your net, all my brethren - the fish have died. When they are no more, I cannot live too. So, assume me to be like another aquatic creature and sell me. Even though they did not want to accept the sage's proposal, they still agreed to him fearing the curse if his order is not obeyed. But once again there was another problem - Who is capable enough of buying him? Chyavana himself gave solution for this. He advised them to approach their king Nahusha.
Hearing this strange story of Chyavana, King Nahusha came there. Nahusha saught pardon from the sage for the kind of insult he had to face in his kingdom. The sage said, "They (fishermen) are the owners of me and the fish. Buy me from them by giving enough money. It is a must for you." Thus Nahusha was forced to buy.
He then told Chyavana that he will give the fishermen 1000 gold coins in exchange. However, the sage dis not agree. He said ,"Is this the value for a sage?" The king gradually increased it from 10,000 coins to one lakh crore coins and then agreed to give his half kingdom. Finally he was willing to give away his entire kingdom. Despite all this, the sage was not contented. Nahusha did not know what to do. Meanwhile, Sage Gautama came there. He said, "O king! Even if you give this entire Earth, instead of your kingdom, it is still not sufficient for this sage who is rich with penance. But one Gomatha is more than all sages."

The king then said to Chyavana that he will give a cow in exchange for him. Listening to this, the happy Chyavana rose out of the net and appreciated the king. He praised the greatness of the cow too. The fishermen accepted the cow from the king and then said to the sage," O revered sage, since we have trapped you in the net, please forgive us by accepting this cow from us in charity and free us from the sins we have acquired." How nice! The happy Chyavana accepted the cow and blessed the fishermen and the fish with the heavenly abode.