A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A pair of speaking jackals gives Kara a cow after he seeks their protection. When addressed as mother, she brings forth what he requests: fresh clothes, dishes, food and later a tent. She also swallows the utensils and tent again after use. The text describes these things emerging from her mouth rather than from milk or horns; it supplies no personal divine name or extraordinary bodily shape.

Two successive thefts turn the cow’s powers into a story about justice. The jackals expose bribery and identify her after a household substitutes an ordinary cow; later an honest magistrate recovers her from merchants who have hidden her among their packs. Kara’s resulting prosperity and marriage follow these recoveries. The cow is not identified with another named wish-cow, nor is the maternal address proof that she is Kara’s transformed human mother.

Wish-supplying cow given by jackalsSpecific Santal narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Santal Parganas, eastern India; source-specific Santali storytelling

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale and preface directly read; exact locator identified.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    Cecil Henry Bompas, translator; O. Bodding, collector; Sagram Murmu, principal Santali writer credited in preface · 1909

    XXI, The Magic Cow, pp. 81–88

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909)

Historical Santal narrative collection. XXI, The Magic Cow, pp. 81–88

Relevant tales completely read along with full preface. Bodding/Murmu/Bompas mediation explicitly retained; original Santali manuscripts not independently inspected. Narrative supernatural claims distinguished from independently verified history or medicine.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of collected narrativesBompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909), XXI, The Magic Cow, pp. 81–88Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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