COWS ARE SACRED

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COWS ARE SACRED

>From the Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva,

Sections LXXXIII - LXXVII - LXXVI

 

Bhishma said:

 

No sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds

and ghee (clarified butter). The very character of

sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee.

Hence ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is

regarded as the very root of sacrifice.

 

Cows have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They

 

represent sacrifice itself. Without them, there can be

no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced

therefrom, they uphold all creatures by diverse acts.

Cows are guileless in their behaviour. From them flow

sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds and

ghee. hence cows are sacred.

 

Afflicted by hunger and thirst, they bear diverse

burdens. Cows support the Munis (sages).

 

Among all objects mobile and immobile, the mobile are

superior. Among mobile creatures Brahmanas are

superior. The sacrifices are all established upon

them. It is by sacrifice that Soma (nectar) is got.

Sacrifice has been established upon cows. ( For

without ghee or clarified butter, which is produced

from milk, there can be no sacrifice). The gods

become gratified through sacrifices. It is from the

cows that the means have flowed of the sustenance of

all the worlds. They yield Soma (nectar) in the form

of milk. Cows are auspicious and sacred, and grantor

of every wish and givers of life.

 

They who make gifts of cows, and who subsist upon the

remnants of things offered as libations on the sacred

fire, are regarded, as always performing sacrifices of

every kind.

 

Of all kinds of gifts, the gift of cows is applauded

as the highest. Cows are the foremost of all things.

Themselves sacred, they are the best of cleansers and

sanctifiers. People should cherish cows for obtaining

prosperity and even peace. Cows are said to represent

the highest energy both in this world and the world

that is above. There is nothing that is more sacred or

sanctifying than cows.

 

One should never feel any repugnance for the urine and

the dung of the cow.

 

Note:

 

The Rishis (ascetic seers) discovered that the

magnetism of the cow is something that is possessed of

extraordinary virtues. Give the same kind of food to a

cow and to a horse. The horse-dung emits an unhealthy

stench, while the cow-dung is an efficacious

disinfectant. There can be little doubt that the urine

and dung of the cow possess untold virtues.

 

Vyasa said:

 

Cows are sacred. They are embodiments of merit. They

are high and most efficacious cleansers of all.

 

One should for three days drink the hot urine of the

cow. For the next three days one should drink the hot

milk of the cow. Having thus drunk for three days hot

milk, one should next drink hot ghee for three days.

Having in this way drunk hot ghee for three days, one

should subsist for the next three days on air only.

 

Vasishtha said:

 

By bathing in water mixed with cow-dung, people shall

become sanctified. The deities and men, shall use

cow-dung for the purpose of purifying all creatures

mobile and immobile. One can sit on dried cow dung.

One should never eat the flesh of cows.

 

One should never show any disregard for cows in any

way. If evil dreams are seen, men should take the

names of cows. One should never obstruct cows in any

way. Cows are the mothers of both the Past and the

Future. Cows have become the refuge of the world. It

is for this that cows are said to be highly blessed,

sacred, and the foremost of all things. It is for

this that cows are said to stay at the very head of

all creatures. Every morning, people should bow with

reverence unto cows.

 

Cows are the best Havi for the deities. The Mantras

called Swaha and Vashat are forever established in

cows. Sacrifices are established in the cows. Cows

constitute the fruit of sacrifices.Cows are the future

and the past, and Sacrifices rest on them. Morning and

evening cows yield unto the Rishis, Havi for use in

Homa (sacred fire ceremony).

 

Cows are always fragrant. The perfume emanated by the

exudation of the Amytis agallochum issues out of their

bodies. Cows are the great refuge of all creatures.

Cows constitute the great source of blessing unto all.

(Swastayana is a ceremony of propitiation, productive

of blessing and destructive of misery of every kind).

Cows are the source of eternal growth.

 

Cows are sacred. They are the foremost of all things

in the world. They are verily the refuge of the

universe. They are the mothers of the very deities.

They are verily incomparable. Cows are the mothers of

the universe. There is no gift more sacred than the

gift of cows. There is no gift that produces more

blessed merit.

 

Vyasa said:

 

Cows constitute the stay of all creatures. Cows are

the

refuge of all creatures. Cows are the embodiment of

merit. Cows are sacred and blessed and are sanctifiers

of all. One should never, in even one's heart, do an

injury to cows. One should, indeed, always confer

happiness on them. Living in a pure state, in the

midst of cows, one should mentally recite those sacred

Mantras that are known by the name of Gomati, after

touching pure water. By doing this, one becomes

purified and cleansed. Brahmanas of righteous deeds,

who have been cleansed by the knowledge,

study of the Vedas, and observance of vows, should,

only in the midst of sacred fires or cows or

assemblies of Brahmanas, impart unto their disciples a

knowledge of the Gomati Mantras which are every way

like unto a sacrifice (for the merit they produce).

One should observe a fast for three nights for

receiving the boon constituted by a knowledge of the

import of the Gomati Mantras.

 

The man who is desirous of obtaining a son may obtain

one by adoring these Mantras. He who desires the

possession of wealth may have his desire gratified by

adoring these Mantras. The girl desirous of having a

good husband may have her wish fulfilled by the same

means. In fact, one may acquire the fruition of every

wish one may cherish, by adoring these sacred Mantras.

When cows are gratified with the service one renders

them, they are, without doubt, capable of granting the

fruition of every wish. Even so, cows are highly

blessed. They are the essential requisites of

acrifices. They are grantors of every wish. Know that

there is nothing superior to cows.

 

Cows are endued with the elements of strength and

energetic exertion. Cows have in them the elements of

wisdom. They are the source of that immortality which

sacrifice achieves. They are the refuge of all

energy. They are the steps by which earthly prosperity

is won. They constitute the eternal course

of the universe. They lead to the extension of one's

race.

 

Bhishma said:

 

One should not, by imparting a knowledge of this

ritual, benefit a person that is not one's disciple or

that is not observant of vows or that is bereft of

faith or that is possessed of a crooked understanding.

Verily, this religion is a mystery, unknown

to most people. One that knows it should not speak of

it at every place. There are, in the world, many men

that are bereft of faith. There are among men many

persons that are mean and that resemble Rakshasas.

This religion, if imparted unto them, would lead to

evil. It would be productive of equal evil if

imparted to such sinful men as have taken shelter in

atheism.

 

 

 

 

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