Names and Epithets
Kamadhenu is often addressed by the proper name Surabhi, which is also used as a synonym for an ordinary cow. Professor Jacobi considers the name Surabhi—"the fragrant one"—to have originated from the peculiar smell of cows. According to the Monier Williams Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899), Surabhi means fragrant, charming, pleasing, as well as cow and earth. It can specifically refer to the divine cow Kamadhenu, the mother of cattle who is also sometimes described as a Matrika ("mother") goddess. Other proper names attributed to Kamadhenu are Sabala ("the spotted one") and Kapila ("the red one").
The epithets "Kamadhenu", "Kamaduh" (कामदुह्) and "Kamaduha" (कामदुहा) literally mean the cow "from whom all that is desired is drawn"—"the cow of plenty". In the Mahabharata and Devi Bhagavata Purana, in the context of the birth of Bhishma, the cow Nandini is given the epithet Kamadhenu. In other instances, Nandini is described as the cow-daughter of Surabhi-Kamadhenu. The scholar Vettam Mani considers Nandini and Surabhi to be synonyms of Kamadhenu.
Read more about this topic: Kamadhenu
Famous quotes containing the words names and, names and/or epithets:
“At night thousands of names and slogans are outlined in neon, and searchlight beams often pierce the sky, perhaps announcing a motion picture premiere, perhaps the opening of a new hamburger stand.”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Shut out that stealing moon,
She wears too much the guise she wore
Before our lutes were strewn
With years-deep dust, and names we read
On a white stone were hewn.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Horribly stuffed with epithets of war.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)