Rajasthan : Kamdhenu is described in mythological stories as a miraculous cow which had divine powers and whose mere sight could remove the sorrows and pain of the people. Whoever possessed this Kamdhenu would get miraculous benefits in every way. It used to happen. Her milk was like nectar. Just as Lord Vishnu is the best among the gods, the ocean among the lakes, Ganga among the rivers, Himalaya among the mountains, Narada among the devotees, Kailash among all the Puris, ‘Kedar Kshetra’ is the best among all the regions, similarly Kamdhenu is the best among the cows. Nandini was the daughter of this Kamdhenu.
Nandini was the cow of Maharishi Vashishtha, who was the daughter of Kamadhenu Surabhi. It is said that the one who drank Nandini’s milk became immortal.
Dilip was the son of Anshuman and the king of Ayodhya. Dilip was very brave and even went to help Devraj Indra. He took part in the battle of Devasur. The king was returning from there full of joy. Kamdhenu was found standing on the road but Dilip did not greet her, then Kamdhenu cursed her that she would remain sonless. If my child is kind to you, then you may have a child. By the grace of Shri Vashishtha ji, he served ‘Nandini cow’ and got his son Shri Raghu ji.
Vasu named Dyo had tried to steal Nandini, due to which due to the curse of Maharishi Vashishtha, Dyo took the birth of Bhishma.
There was a king, his name was Kaushik. Once he went to the forest for hunting and then lost his way. He could not find the way for many days and then he found refuge in the ashram of sage Vashishtha. Sage Vashishtha welcomed the king and his soldiers, which even a king does not receive in the royal palace. When the king asked the sage for its secret, he mentioned a cow named Nandini, who was the child of Kamadhenu, who gave all kinds of food instead of milk. The king got upset and tried to get it forcibly from Vashishtha and when the soldiers attacked the cow, the sage killed them with his might and also made the king weak. On this, the king, filled with anger and contempt, started penance so that he could become better than Vashishtha, then his name was Vishwamitra and he became Rajrishi and Brahmarishi. Fearing penance, Indra sent his nymph Menaka to break the sage’s penance and she succeeded, giving birth to a daughter named Shakuntala, who was not accepted by Vishwamitra. Later, Bharat, the son of the same Shakuntala, from whom our country takes its name today, became the king of the earth.
