Vedic Sanskrit words related to 'go' or cow-etymology and meanings

Sanskrit words related to 'cow'

All words in Sanskrit are written in italics are itrans version and available in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier Williams at
<http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/>.

1. go (गो) ---Cow. (गो) .  Cow. ( Cow seems to be from the expansion of the word go that expands as gau.)

2. go----One who moves or goes----the sensory and other organs. 
'go' is from the root word 'gam' which means 'to go'. 

(go also means horse.  idriaani hayani ahuH; viShyansteShu gocharan----the organs are the horses and the objects are the routes in which the cows (horses) move (Kathopanishad). gocharan---means 'go + charan'----the trails along which the cows move.)

3. go = sensory and other organs. Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the seer has explained the meaning of the word 'gaayatrI'  as 'gayaM tatre' --who rescues the cows or the organs'----who takes our sensory faculties beyond death.This is gaayatrI who takes us or our senses beyond the decay or death.
gayaM is derived from the root word gaya. 
The word gaya and go mean the sensory and functional organs and is related to the word 'gam' in Sanskrit and to the word 'go' in English. It means our senses or faculties by which (or with which) we move around. Our senses and the corresponding organs, like vision, listening, taste, hands, legs etc. are the activities of Consciousness or praaNa. By praaNa we are active. We are active by the activities of the Consciousness described as praaNa. This is 'going' and by which we go, we work, we sense, are called 'gaya' or 'go'.  We evolve and get nourished by this 'going or grazing or moving around'. Thus the organs are also called 'go' in Sanskrit. 'go' in Sanskrit, also means 'cow' as they are pastoral animals and we are nourished by the 'milk'.  'go' and 'gaya' in Sanskrit are related to the alphabet 'ga' and the root word 'gam' (to go).

4. gopaala ( गो--पाल) = go (cow / senses/organs)+ paala (keeper / protector)---who protects our senses and organs----also, it is a name of lord kRiShNa. 

5. govinda ( गो--विन्द) = go (cow/senses/ organs) + vinda (gaining/ getting)----who is the owner of all the senses and organs. govinda is also the name of lord kRiShNa.
(Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upansihad, the seer has mentioned about the active Soul or praaNa  as ----yaH ayam  vij~naanamayaH  praaneShu, hridi antarjoti---the one who is sensing in our senses , the one who is the illumination inside our heart----Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4/3/7.)

Thus in a hymn on lord kRiShNa it is stated, 'dolaayam govindam driShtvaa.....'---meaning , 'when one sees govinda seated on a swing'. 
The sensory organs or any organ are involved in a to and fro motion. When we see something, the vision comes in us and we also get connected to the view. When we do some work, we influence the external as well as we internally go through a series of feelings and sensing as we do the work. These are 'swings' or two and fro motion in which govinda is seated.

6. gavaakSha गवाक्ष---bull's eye / air hole/ round window. 
govaakSha---gava (cow) + akSha (eye)---the eye or the ' window' or the faculty of senses developed in us. Every sensory organ like eye, nose, etc. are like 'door' or 'window' through which we 'perceive' the external or world and through which the flow of Consciousness or senses enter us from the external.

7.  gautama (gautama ) ---- go> gau ( gau) + tama;  

tama is the word for 'superlative degree'. So, gautama means whose faculties of senses have become supreme, i.e. who can see the unseen, hear the unheard and so on; whose senses are not limited and they never decay.

8. godaavarI----This is the name of the river flowing from Western ghat of Maharshtra  to the bay of Bengal via naasika. Lord raama with sItaa and lakShmaNa stayed on her bank.

godaavarI----go (senses/ sensory faculties)  + daa (donor)+ varI (chooser, suitor, solicitor). 
varI is from the root word vRi meaning 'to select', 'to accept'. varI also means 'supreme' or 'eminent'.

godaavarI----Who is flowing to bestow the divine (unending/unbound) sensory faculties and eager to select the seekers of eternity to bestow the same.

9. gokula--go (senses) + kula (community, family)--where all the sensory faculties stay or rest or find their root. gokula is the place where lord kRiShNa spent his early life.

10. gotra--lineage. go (senses) + tra (protects)---which protects/ secures or defines one's sensing faculties and development of Conscious state. 

11. godhana----go (senses) + dhana (wealth)----the extra-sensory perceptions or the divine faculties acquired as the senses transcend the clutches of mortality or mortal limitaions. (See gayatrI mentioned above.) (The offering of godhana by the learned kings to the sages /RiShi was a common feature in the ancient days.)

12. gomukha---go (senses) + mukha (mouth)----the mouth or the apertures from which the senses are flowing out. From our mouths, the words, which are the expressions of Consciousness, are spontaneously emerging. The river Bhagirathi (bhaagIrathI), is coming out of Gangotri glacier and is one of the primary headstreams of the river Ganga (ga~Ngaa). This place from where the river Bhagirathi is coming out is also considered as the origin of Ganga and is called gomukha. The river Ganga thus streaming down from the mountain place gomukha is the same as the streams of senses flowing out of the brain. 

Notes: Everything, every being has a divine aspect (aspect that transcends the death). The above words provide clue to that divinity. A cow, as an animal has some noteworthy features related to its sensory faculties and organs. Its organs (indriya) like eyes, ears, lips, nose, tongue, genitals etc. are very vivid on its body. It gives nourishing milk to its calf as well as for us. In our childhood we have seen sometimes the milk seller (who used to draw milk from the udders of a cow) would carry an effigy of the bust of the dead calf (made out of its hide) along with the cow. The cow would be caressing by licking the effigy and would be lactating. Thus,  it is such a sensitive animal. The Rishis, the sages, the seers have taught how to see the divinity everywhere as well as in the animal kingdom. It is the Universal Consciousness who is acting everywhere, in every being, as its instinct, as its faculty and habit. Everything, be inert or animated, is the formation of Universal Consciousness.

{Written following the teaching of the great sage Shri.BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Shri.Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya (1923-1994).}

(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)