s the sage Jambava Rishi was habitually
late in attending at Siva's court. Siva asked him why this happened,
and he replied that he was occupied in tending his children. On
this Siva took pity on him and gave him the sacred cow, Kamdhenu,
from which all the needs of the children could be satisfied. But one
day while Jambava was absent at Siva's court, another sage, Sankhya,
visited his hermitage and was hospitably entertained by his son,
Yugamuni. The cream which Sankhya was given was so good that he
desired to kill the cow, Kamdhenu, thinking that her flesh would
taste even better. In spite of Yugamuni's objections Sankhya killed
the cow and distributed the meat to various persons. While this was
in progress Jambava returned, and, on hearing what had been done,
dragged Sankhya and Yugamuni before Siva's judgment seat. The two
offenders did not enter the court but stood outside the doorway,
Sankhya on the right side and Yugamuni on the left. Siva condemned them
to become Chandalas or outcastes, and the descendants of Sankhya have
become the right-hand Holias, while those of Yugamuni and his wife
Matangi are the left-hand caste of Madigas. The latter were set to
make shoes to expiate the sin committed by their ancestor in killing
a cow. Another story given in the Central Provinces is that the Golla
caste of cowherds, corresponding to the Ahirs and the Madgis, are the
descendants of two brothers. The brothers had a large herd of cattle
and wanted to divide them. At this time, however, cattle disease was
prevalent, and many of the herd were affected. The younger brother did
not know of this, and seeing that most of the herd were lying on the
ground, he proposed to the elder brother that he himself should take
all the cattle lying on the ground, and the elder brother all those
which were standing up, as a suitable method of division. The elder
brother agreed, but when the younger came to take his cattle which
were on the ground he found that they were all dead, and hence he had
no alternative but to take off the hides and cure and sell them. His
descendants continued his degraded profession and became the Madgi
caste. In Chanda the following six subcastes of Madgis are reported:
The Nulka Chandriah or caste priests; the Anapa or leather dealers;
the Sindhi who are supposed to have been performers of dramas; the
Masti or dancers; the Kommu or tellers of stories; and the Dekkala
or genealogists of the caste. It is said that Ko