3.10. Prajapati, when creating beings and sacrifice, said, “By this, may you receive the bountiful cow whose milk satisfies all desires.”
Prajapati, literally “lord of beings”, symbolises Brahman [1]. “By this” refers to sacrifice. “By means of sacrifice, non-attached action, may you satisfy all your desires.”
As “all desires” stem from the appeared separation from Brahman, their satisfaction means the cessation of desire and, therefore, our unbinding from Maya. The “bountiful cow” signifies the source or means of achieving this, “whose milk” is the outcome or achievement itself. Specifically, the Amritabindu Upanishad states that,
19. The sages say that knowledge is the milk and the sacred scriptures are the cows.
The scriptures (cows) are the source of the knowledge (milk). So, Prajapati is saying, “May you receive the knowledge from the scriptures – which satisfies and puts an end to all desires.” This is achieved through sacrifice, non-attached action – meaning without attachment to Maya.
Finally, Chandogya Upanishad perfectly explains the meaning of the shloka:
8.7.1. One must seek for and want to know the Self, which is free from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, without hunger, without thirst, of true desire, of true resolve. The one who has found and knows the Self attains all worlds and all desires. So said Prajapati.
In short, the subject matter of the verse is knowledge of the Self and the means of attaining it. Krishna later goes on to explain that “one who is free from attachment…is established in knowledge.” [2] In other words, they “receive the bountiful cow whose milk satisfies all desires.”
[1] E.g. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.3.1:
The heart is Prajapati. It is Brahman, it is everything.
[2] Bhagavad Gita 4.23:
The work of one who is free from attachment, who is liberated, whose thought is established in knowledge and is done only for sacrifice
Lewis,
HAPPY NEW YEAR
3.10, BG describes the “Creation” phase.
Swami Gambhirananda’s translation reads:
“In the days of yore, having created the beings together with the sacrifices, Prajapati said: ‘By this you multiply. Let this be your yielder of coveted objects of desire.’ ”
The Swami Ji gives the meaning for Prajapati as “the creator of beings” befitting to the Creation phase.
5.3.1, BU, in contrast, is about the Dissolution phase.
Shankara in his commentary at this mantra writes:
यस्मिन् शाकल्यब्राह्मणान्ते नामरूपकर्मणां उपसंहार उक्तो दिग्विभागद्वारेण, तदेतत् सर्वभूतप्रतिष्ठं सर्वभूतात्मभूतं हृदयं प्रजापतिः प्रजानां स्रष्टा ;
IAST: yasmin śākalyabrāhmaṇānte nāmarūpakarmaṇāṃ upasaṃhāra ukto digvibhāgadvāreṇa, tadetat sarvabhūtapratiṣṭhaṃ sarvabhūtātmabhūtaṃ hṛdayaṃ prajāpatiḥ prajānāṃ sraṣṭā ;
Meaning: “That heart in which, at the end of the section relating to Sakalya (III. ix.), name, form and work have been stated to merge by way of the divisions of the quarters which resides in all beings and is identified with them all, is Prajapati, the projector of all beings …” (Trans: Swami Madhavananda).
Thus, 3.10, BG is about the “Unfoldment of the world”;
5.3.1, BU and BUB are about “Infoldment of the world.”
Is it okay to transpose the meaning of “prajApati” from one to the other?
regards,
Happy New Year!
Thank you for the added context and question.
Ultimately, it is the same Prajapati which is being discussed. Whether unfolding or infolding, it is Prajapati. All go from and back to That. The ultimate teaching is that Prajapati is Brahman.
In the context of BG 3.10, it is only because of Prajapati that there are any beings performing sacrificial work to liberate them. When they are liberated from their illusory views, they realise Prajapati as Brahman.
The unfoldment signifies appearance, whereas infoldment its dissolution, therefore reflecting the truth. This being that there is only Prajapati. Ultimately, both infoldment and unfoldment phases happen within Brahman.
So, Prajapati’s creation or unfoldment contains the same conditions for the infoldment to occur. This is what the knowledge of BG 3.10 reflects. According to the shloka, sacrificial work was one of Prajapati’s creations in the unfoldment, but it is also the means of the infoldment, which is knowledge of the Self, the dissolving of name and form and the involution of the projection. Therefore, Prajapati contains and represents the conditions of both phases.
Thanks again.
Kind regards.
Hi Lewis,
I wonder if I might ask where exactly the ‘cow’ and ‘milk come from. These words do not appear in the text, do they? Does the verse not just mean that you perform your sacrifices and get what you want (need) as a result?
(Apologies – I am getting very critical of ‘translations’ in my old age!)
Best wishes,
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, the verse means that – where sacrifice means non-attached action and the reward is liberation, knowledge of Brahman. Most of the translations of the verse I’ve come across do not convey the meaning clearly so I thought it worth addressing.
What is translated as “bountiful cow” is iṣṭakāmadhuk, combined of iṣ (desire) and kāmaduh (bountiful cow). At the same time, kāma refers to desire and duh literally means “to milk”, but refers to receiving the ‘reward’, attaining it. This is where the imagery of the cow comes from, rather than the other way around. What is the source of the reward, what bestows it, is the ‘cow’, and what is bestowed and attained is, figuratively, the ‘milk’.
Initially, I was going to include this section on the meaning of iṣṭakāmadhuk, which was the initial prompt for addressing the symbolism:
“Also means to wish for (iṣṭaka) sweetness (āmadhuk). On the meaning of desire, the Chāndogya Upaniṣad says, “What folk call ‘sacrifice’ is brahmacarya, for only through brahmacarya does the knower find it. What they call ‘offering’ is brahmacarya, for only by seeking through brahmacarya does one find the Self” (8.5.1). Translated, ‘offering’ is iṣṭi and ‘seeking’ is iṣṭvā. So, ‘to wish’ (iṣṭaka), in this context, means to have performed the sacrifice (action) (iṣṭi) conducive to finding (iṣṭvā) the Self.”
Kind regards.
Thanks, Lewis. I seem to spend quite a lot of time these days trying to track down Sanskrit quotations. It’s a beautiful and seemingly endlessly versatile language but an exasperation for someone who has never learned it!
Best wishes,
Dennis
Lewis,
The 19th verse from amRtabindu Upanishad in the versions I have seen seems to read slightly differently from what is quoted by you.
गवामनेकवर्णानां क्षीरस्याप्येकवर्णता ।
क्षीरवत्पश्यते ज्ञानं लिङ्गिनस्तु गवां यथा ॥ — 19, amRtabindu U.
Meaning: While cows are of different colors, milk is of the same color. The wise one sees Knowledge like milk, while the many-branched (scriptures) indeed as cows.
On the other hand, it is customary to recite nine or so verses (attributed to Shankara by some) as meditation before taking up a study of the Bhagavad-Gita. One of those verses reads:
सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपालनन्दनः |
पार्थो वत्सः सुधीर्भोक्ता दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत् ||
IAST: sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopālanandanaḥ |
pārtho vatsaḥ sudhīrbhoktā dugdhaṃ gītāmṛtaṃ mahat ||
Meaning: All the UpaniShads are the cows, the son of the cowherd (Krishna) is the milker, Partha (Arjuna) is the calf, men of purified intellect are the drinkers and the supreme nectar Gita is the milk.
Could this verse be the source for the comparison of cow and milk to the Upanishads and Gita respectively?
Just a thought.
regards,
Hi Ramesam,
The comparison of cow and milk to the Upanishads and Gita reflects a continuation of the symbolic understanding, rather than the source of it. For example, the Vedas are also seen as a cow, with their knowledge being the milk.
The part of the Amritabindu Upanishad verse about cows being different colours but their milk being the same colour means that, though there are many different scriptures, their knowledge is the same. I instead chose to focus on the second line of the verse for the meaning of BG 3.10.
Kind regards.
Thanks and regards,