There was once a demon so terrible that the gods could not defeat him. His name was Vritra, and he had swallowed all the waters of the world, holding the rivers and the rains hostage so that the earth cracked and withered. Indra, king of the gods, hurled his fiercest weapons at the monster, and they bounced off like pebbles. No blade could cut him. No fire could burn him.

The desperate gods went to the wise ones for help, and the answer they received was strange and sorrowful. Only one weapon could kill Vritra: one forged from the bones of the great sage Dadhichi, whose long life of penance had made his very bones harder than diamond and brighter than fire.

So the gods came to Dadhichi and, ashamed, asked the hardest thing. And the old sage, who loved the world more than his own life, smiled and gave it gladly. From his bones the heavenly smith forged the vajra — the thunderbolt — the mightiest weapon ever made.

Indra raised it high. It blazed like a hundred lightnings. He flung it at Vritra, and this time the demon fell, and the waters of the world came roaring free, and the rivers ran and the rains returned and the earth turned green again. Of all weapons, none was ever its equal.

But strength was not the only glory the gods knew. In the bright meadows of heaven grazed a gentle cow named Kamadhenu, white as milk, who could grant any wish that was asked of her — food for the hungry, gifts for the giving, whatever a kind heart truly needed. She harmed no one and gave to everyone, and of all cows she was the greatest, the most generous creature in the worlds.

On the chariot at Kurukshetra, Krishna named them both to Arjuna. "Among weapons, I am the thunderbolt. Among cows, I am Kamadhenu, who grants every wish." The fiercest power and the gentlest giving — both, he said, were his.

For greatness does not wear only one face. Sometimes it is the thunderbolt that breaks what is wrong. Sometimes it is the quiet cow that gives and gives. And the same One shines through both — the strength that protects and the kindness that provides.