Surabhī, the Divine Mother of All Cows

Surabhī is the divine mother of all cows. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa calls her a prādhāna-aṃśa (a chief partial manifestation) of Mūla Prakṛti, the root Prakṛti. It also says that Mahālakṣmī herself is present as Surabhī wherever cows dwell.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa places her among the great primal mothers: Aditī, Ditī, Kadrū, Vinatā and Danu. Each of them gave birth to a whole class of beings, and Surabhī is the mother of the cow-lineage.

Nature and identity

In the first adhyāya (chapter) of the Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Surabhī is named as one of the prādhāna-aṃśas of Mūla Prakṛti. These are the main partial manifestations through which the divine Śakti took form in this creation. Surabhī is the first cow, the source from which all cows of this creation descend.

The Prakriti Khaṇḍa places her in the sṛṣṭi-krama group. These are beings who came into existence at the beginning of the creative cycle to be the mothers of whole classes of beings. In this group she stands with:

Aditī, mother of the Ādityas
Ditī, mother of the daityas
Kadrū, mother of the nāgas
Vinatā, mother of Garuḍa and the birds
Danu, mother of the dānavas

Just as each of these is the founding mother of an entire order of beings, Surabhī is the founding mother of the cow-lineage.

Surabhī as a form of Mahālakṣmī

Chapter 35 of the Prakriti Khaṇḍa states the link between Surabhī and Mahālakṣmī directly. Mahālakṣmī shows herself in several forms across the cosmos:

as Svargalakṣmī in the celestial regions (svarga)
as Rājalakṣmī in the courts of kings
as Gṛhalakṣmī in righteous households
as Dakṣiṇā in the field of yajña (fire ritual)
as Surabhī, the divine cow and mother of all, among cows

Wherever cows dwell, it is Mahālakṣmī herself who is present as Surabhī.

Go-sevā, the service of cows

Go-sevā means serving cows: protecting them, giving them grass and water, bathing in pañcagavya (the five products of the cow), and never harming them. The cow is the earthly form of the divine mother Surabhī, who is herself a part of the supreme Śakti. The cow gives milk, ghee, pañcagavya and dung, which is used for purification.

Kaśyapa Prajāpati is linked with the cow-lineage in other Purāṇic passages, where Surabhī appears as one of his wives and as the mother through whom the line of kāmadhenu (the wish-fulfilling cow) came into the world. The Prakriti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa presents her mainly in her cosmic identity, as the aṃśa-svarūpa (partial form) of Prakṛti and as the Lakṣmī-form among all cattle.

Place among the aṃśas of Prakṛti

Surabhī stands among the basic aṃśas of Mūla Prakṛti listed at the start of the Prakriti Khaṇḍa. The same list includes Gaṅgā, Tulasī, Manasā, Devasenā, Maṅgalacaṇḍikā, Kālikā and Svāhā. Each of these devīs is Prakṛti’s śakti (power) working in one area of cosmic and earthly life. Surabhī holds the śakti of motherly abundance, nourishment and the sanctity of the cow. Through Surabhī, Prakṛti nourishes all beings.

The Surabhi Upākhyāna in the Mahābhārata

In the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Chapter 9, Vyāsa tells the Surabhi Upākhyāna (the story of Surabhī) to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Surabhī came weeping before Indra. She had seen one of her sons, a farm ox in the mortal world, being beaten by a farmer. Though she is divine and has great powers, she could not end her son’s suffering herself. Indra was moved by compassion and sent timely rain, which forced the farmer to stop. Vyāsa told this account to stir Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s conscience about the suffering that his son Duryodhana was causing the Pāṇḍavas.

Upamanyu’s first taste of milk

In the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Chapter 14, Upamanyu tells Kṛṣṇa about his own childhood. His father once took him as a boy to a wealthy man’s yajña. There he tasted milk drawn directly from the divine cow Surabhī, and he described its sweetness as like amṛta (the nectar of immortality). This one taste of true cow’s milk later made him refuse his mother’s substitute of water mixed with flour. It set him on the path of the great tapas (austerity) for Śiva that forms the heart of that chapter.

Why the bull carries Bhagavān Śiva

In the Umā-Maheśvara Saṃvāda (the conversation of Umā and Maheśvara) in the Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 141, Bhagavān Śiva tells Umā why the bull is his vāhana (carrier), though every other vāhana in the three worlds is more glorious.

Brahmā had created Surabhī, the cow of the devas, who always poured out amṛta-like milk in countless forms. As her calf fed, foam flew up from its mouth and fell on the body of Bhagavān Śiva. In his displeasure he “burned” the cows, and from this act cattle received their varied, dappled colours. Brahmā then calmed Bhagavān Śiva and gave him the bull as his vāhana and his dhvaja (banner).

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakriti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1 and 35
Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 9
Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 14 and 141