A large number of words are derived from the word ‘Go’ meaning cow. A wealthy person was known as ________ in Vedic times.

Correct — C. In Vedic usage go is the cow, and a man rich in cattle was gomat, literally one who possesses cows.

Wealth was counted in herds, so the word for a wealthy man was built on the word for cow — which is exactly the derivation the stem sets up.

The same root runs through the vocabulary. Gavishti, a Rigvedic word for a raid or war, is literally the search for cows, and duhitr, daughter, is she who milks.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Gotra — Gotra began as a word for the cow-pen and came to mean a lineage or clan — a unit of descent, not a measure of a man's wealth.
• (b)
  Gabaksha — Gabaksha (gavaksha) is a window or arched opening, literally a cow's eye. It is an architectural term and belongs to buildings, not to people.
• (d)
  Gaveshana — Gaveshana is the seeking of cows, which widened into searching and, in later usage, research. It names an activity, not a person's standing.

The Rigvedic economy was pastoral, and its vocabulary shows it. Cattle were the unit of wealth, the object of raids and the substance of a gift, so go seeded a whole family of words.

Gomat — one who has cows — is the word for a wealthy man.
Gavishti — the search for cows — is a word for war.
Duhitr — she who milks — is the word for daughter.

Read the three together and the society comes through: a cattle-keeping people whose fights, families and fortunes were all counted in herds.

Key facts

• In Vedic vocabulary go means cow.
• A wealthy man was called gomat, one who possesses cows.
• Gavishti, a Rigvedic word for war, literally means the search for cows.
• Gotra originally meant a cow-pen and later came to mean a clan or lineage.

Common traps

• Choosing gotra because it is the go- word still in daily use.
• Reading gaveshana as wealth-seeking when it is cow-seeking, hence searching.

No directly related past PYQ was found.