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When Kunti prays, go-dvija-surarti-haravatara [sB 1.8.43], she indicates

that Govinda, Krsna, descends to this world especially to protect the

cows, the brahmanas, and the devotees. The demoniac in this world are the

greatest enemies of the cows, for they maintain hundreds and thousands of

slaughterhouses. Although the innocent cows give milk, the most important

food, and although even after death the cows give their skin for shoes,

people are such rascals that they kill the cows, but still they want to be

happy in this world. How sinful they are.

 

Why is cow protection so much advocated? Because the cow is the most

important animal. There is no injunction that one should not eat the flesh

of tigers or other such animals. In the Vedic culture those who are

meat-eaters are recommended to eat the flesh of goats, dogs, hogs, or

other lower animals, but never the flesh of cows, the most important

animals. While living, the cows give important service by giving milk, and

even after death they give service by making available their skin, hooves,

and horns, which may be used in many ways. Nonetheless, the present human

society is so ungrateful that they needlessly kill these innocent cows.

Therefore Krsna comes to punish them.

 

Krsna is worshiped with this prayer:

 

namo brahmanya-devaya

go-brahmana-hitaya ca

jagad-dhitaya krsnaya

govindaya namo namah

 

"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You

are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world." For perfect

human society there must be protection of go-dvija -- the cows and the

brahmanas. The word dvija refers to the brahmana, or one who knows Brahman

(God). When the demoniac give too much trouble to the brahmanas and the

cows, Krsna descends to reestablish religious principles. As the Lord says

in Bhagavad-gita (4.7):

 

yada yada hi dharmasya

glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya

tadatmanam srjamy aham

 

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O

descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at that

time I descend Myself."