अथर्ववेद - काण्ड 5/ सूक्त 18/ मन्त्र 1
सूक्त - मयोभूः
देवता - ब्रह्मगवी
छन्दः - अनुष्टुप्
सूक्तम् - ब्रह्मगवी सूक्त
नैतां ते॑ दे॒वा अ॑ददु॒स्तुभ्यं॑ नृपते॒ अत्त॑वे। मा ब्रा॑ह्म॒णस्य॑ राजन्य॒ गां जि॑घत्सो अना॒द्याम् ॥
स्वर सहित पद पाठन । ए॒ताम् । ते॒ । दे॒वा: । अ॒द॒दु॒: । तुभ्य॑म् । नृ॒ऽप॒ते॒ । अत्त॑वे । मा । ब्रा॒ह्म॒णस्य॑ । रा॒ज॒न्य॒ । गाम् । जि॒घ॒त्स॒:। अ॒ना॒द्याम् ॥१८.१॥
स्वर रहित मन्त्र
नैतां ते देवा अददुस्तुभ्यं नृपते अत्तवे। मा ब्राह्मणस्य राजन्य गां जिघत्सो अनाद्याम् ॥
स्वर रहित पद पाठन । एताम् । ते । देवा: । अददु: । तुभ्यम् । नृऽपते । अत्तवे । मा । ब्राह्मणस्य । राजन्य । गाम् । जिघत्स:। अनाद्याम् ॥१८.१॥
अथर्ववेद - काण्ड » 5; सूक्त » 18; मन्त्र » 1
Subject - Brahma Gavi
Meaning -
O ruler of the people, the divinities of nature and nobilities of humanity did not give this earth, this Vedic speech, this holy cow to you to eat, i.e., for exploitation, misappropriation and personal consumption. Do not try to eat up the Brahmana’s cow, it is inviolable, it is not something edible. It is not to be killed. (Brahmana in this hymn does not mean a caste, it means Brahma, the Supreme Being and any person wholly dedicated to Brahma. ‘Gau’ means the cow and all divine gifts of Brahma: nature, sun rays, moon, land, earth and the environment, the people, knowledge, culture, language, sense organs and, of course, the cow and all other useful animals. All these belong to Brahma, all these belong to humanity as trust, and humanity is to be taken as noble on its own as humanity. These do not belong to any particular person even if the person is a ruler. They belong to all and to every person as a trust. In this sense they belong to the ruler also but as a trustee of the people, not as a person, not as property. Hence the original term ‘Brahmana’s Gau’ is used in the translation in this wide sense. Every person’s share of God’s gifts is sacred, inviolable, un-encroachable.)