Mahabharata on Nature

"'"This also happens because of its having been ordained. An auspicious and beautiful woman, O Sakra, is seen to pass her life in misery. Similarly, an ugly woman with every inauspicious mark is seen to pass her days in great happiness. That we have now become so is not due to any act of ours, O Sakra! That thou art now so is not due, O wielder of the thunderbolt, to any act of thine. Thou hast not done anything, O thou of hundred sacrifices, in consequence of which thou art now enjoying this affluence. Nor have I done anything in consequence of which I have now been divested of affluence. Affluence and its reverse come one after another. I now behold thee blazing with splendour, endued with prosperity, possessed of beauty, placed at the head of all the deities, and thus roaring at me. This would never be but for the fact of Time standing near after having assailed me. Indeed, if Time had not assailed me I would have today killed thee with only a blow of my fists notwithstanding the fact of thy being armed with the thunder. This, however, is not the time for putting forth my prowess. On the other hand, the time that has come is for adopting a behaviour of peace and tranquillity. It is Time that establishes all things. Time works upon all things and leads them to their final consummation.[840] I was the worshipped lord of the Danavas. Burning all with my energy, I used to roar in strength and pride. When Time hath assailed even myself, who is there whom he will not assail? Formerly, O chief of the deities, singly I bore the energy of all the twelve illustrious Adityas with thyself amongst them. It was I that used to bear up water and then to shower it as rain, O Vasava! It was I that used to give both light and heat unto the three worlds. It was I that used to protect and it was I that used to destroy. It was I that gave and it was I that took. It was I that used to bind and it was I that used to unbind. In all the worlds I was the one puissant master.

By giving away a cow of white complexion, with a calf similar to herself, yielding milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to great honours in the region of Indra. By giving away a cow of dark complexion, with a calf similar to herself, yielding milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to great honours in the region of Agni. By giving away a cow of the complexion of smoke, with a calf similar to herself, yielding milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to great honours in the region of Yama. By giving away a cow of the complexion of the foam of water, with a calf and a vessel of white brass for milking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to the region of Varuna. By giving away a cow whose complexion is like that of the dust blown by the wind, with a calf, and a vessel of white brass for milking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to great honours in the region of the Wind-god. By giving a cow of the complexion of gold, having eyes of a tawny hue with a calf and a vessel of white brass for milking her and covered with a piece of cloth, one enjoys the felicity of the region of Kuvera. By giving away a cow of the complexion of the smoke of straw, with a calf and a vessel of white brass for milking her, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to great honours in the region of the Pitris. By giving away a fat cow with the flesh of its throat hanging down and accompanied by her calf, one attains with ease to the high region of the Viswedevas. By giving away a Gouri cow, with calf similar to her, yielding milk, free from every vice, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to the region of the Vasus. By giving away a cow of the complexion of a white blanket, with a calf and a vessel of white brass, and covered with a piece of cloth, one attains to the region of the Sadhyas.