374 M. CHAKRAVARTI ON ANIMALS IN THE INSCRIPTIONS OF PITADASI. 



changed until one finds in the Satapatha-brahmana " harm not the inexhaustible wide- 

 ruling cow " (vii. 5. 2. 19), with the dictum that the Adhvaryu should not eat the flesh 

 of either the cow or the ox (ib. iii. 1. 2. 21) ; and the beef-eater is said to be born again 

 as a man of art fame (ib., iii. 1. 2. 21). In the Pamsa-medha yajna the cow-killer is dedi- 

 cated to death. (Vaj. sarh. xxx. 18 ; cf. Taitt. br. iii. 4. 1. 16. See also the oldest Dharma- 

 sutra (Gaut. xvii. 30). The cow (not ox) has been venerated from the oldest times. The 

 cow as goddess Aditi should not be killed {e.g., sam. viii. 101. 15); and her worship is 

 recognised (Ath. sam xii. 4. 5). 



Horse, (xxxi). The horse. 



Asvasa lakhanc (in all, A. eff.). 

 Cf. assa in the Jatakas. 



The horse is known from the very earliest times. It was the vahana of the cars 

 of various gods such as varuna (Rg.-sam. v. 62. 4) surya (' seven mares,' ib. 1. 50. 9) Asvins 

 (ib. I. 117. 2), Indra(ib. ii. 18. \hari), vaya {niyut, (ib. iv. 4b. 3, iv. 48. 4), Agni {rohita, ib. 

 iv. 2. 3), soma ('mares,' ib. ix. 86. 37). Rbhus (ib. vii. 48. 1). The a'sva was a generic 

 term applied not only to horse, but to other animal-carriers, e.g., ajdsva or goats (Rg. 

 vi. 55. /\), prsada'sa or spotted deer (ib. 1. 89. 7). The horse-flesh was taken roasted 

 and boiled (ib. v. 162. 11, 13). 



The marking of horses, I suppose, is included in the Grhya-sutra references quoted 

 above under the cow. The Am 55 in the Am-i-Akbari describes how the horses were 

 branded when received into or issued from the imperial stables (Blochmann I. 139-40). 



