कृषि-पाराशर (महर्षि पराशर - प्राचीन भारतीय कृषि, मृदा-परीक्षण, वर्षा-पूर्वानुमान व बीज-संस्कार)

KṚṢI-PARĀŚARA 73
94. Give away cowdung on other (days) avoiding the three days;
(giving of cowdung) on Saturday, Tuesday and Sunday is known to
be harmful to kine.
95. Cows cry at the sight of that place, bereft of the Goddess of
wealth, where a light is not put in the cowshed in the evening.
96. A plough is said to have eight bulls, six for ordinary use,
four for the cruel and two for the cow-killers.¹
97. Constantly there is the Goddess of wealth in ten ploughs,
wealth in five, food in three and debt in one.
98. With two ploughs there is always merely the maintenance
of one's ownself, and one does not become able to offer rice to the
manes, gods and guests.
Now the description of the festival of cows
99. Perform the worship of cows in the lunar mansion called
Laguḍa-pratipat in Kārtika after tying a Śyāma creeper² on the horn
and besmearing (cows) with turmeric mixed with oil.
100-101. Cowherds, adorned with ornaments, besmearing the
body with saffron and sandal-paste, decorating (the cows) with
cloths, etc. and raising the club in the hand, should, for averting evil
to cows, take the chief bull round the village with vocal and instru-
mental music.
102. Then, accompanied by cultivators, one should, on the first
day of Kārtika, apply oil mixed with turmeric, over the bodies of
cows.
103. On that day cause a piece of hot iron to be put on the
bodies of cows, and then cut off (a portion of their) tails, hairs and
ears.
104. By this (practice), the entire bovine class doubtlessly be-
comes healthy in his (i. e. of the cultivator observing these rules)
house and free from various diseases for a year.
1 The word 'gavāśin' of the text literally means 'one who eats cows'. It
has obviously been used to express contempt towards those who employ only
two bulls in cultivation in utter disregard to their extreme strain.
2 'A kind of climbing plant' (M. Williams.) It appears to be a distinct
spacies of creepers, and not any green creeper as S. P. Roy Chaudhuri takes it
to mean.