ys of yore, the Self-born
Brahman commanded the Rishi Daksha, saying,--'Do thou create living
creatures!' From desire of doing good to creatures, Daksha, in the first
instance, created food. Even as the deities exist, depending upon nectar,
all living creatures, O puissant one, live depending upon the sustenance
assigned by Daksha. Among all objects mobile and immobile, the mobile are
superior. Among mobile creatures Brahmanas are superior. The sacrifices
are all established upon them. It is by sacrifice that Soma (nectar) is
got. Sacrifice has been established upon kine.[372] The gods become
gratified through sacrifices. As regards the Creation then, the means of
support came first, creatures came next. As soon as creatures were born,
they began to cry aloud for food. All of them then approached their
creator who was to give them food like children approaching their father
or mother. Knowing the intention which moved all his creatures, the holy
lord of all creatures, viz., Daksha, for the sake of the beings he had
created, himself drank a quantity of nectar. He became gratified with the
nectar he quaffed and thereupon an eructation came out, diffusing an
excellent perfume all around. As the result of that eructation, Daksha
saw that it gave birth to a cow which he named Surabhi. This Surabhi was
thus a daughter of his, that had sprung from his mouth. The cow called
Surabhi brought forth a number of daughters who came to be regarded as
the mothers of the world. Their complexion was like that of gold, and
they were all Kapilas. They were the means of sustenance for all
creatures. As those kine, whose complexion resembled that of Amrita,
began to pour milk, the froth of that milk arose and began to spread on
every side, even as when the waves of a running stream dashing against
one another, copious froth is produced that spreads on every side. Some
of that froth fell, from the mouths of the calves that were sucking, upon
the head of Mahadeva who was then sitting on the Earth. The puissant
Mahadeva thereupon, filled with wrath, cast his eyes upon those kine.
With that third eye of his which adorns his forehead, he seemed to burn
those kine as he looked at them. Like the Sun tingeing masses of clouds
with diverse colours the energy that issued from the third eye of
Mahadeva produced, O monarch, diverse complexion in those kine. Those
amongst them, however, which succeeded in escaping from the glance of
Mahadeva by entering th