The sacred cow

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

Hope following references will help to understand this

topic.

 

Srila Prabupada says in purport of BG 14.16

======================

 

A human being has no need to kill animals, because God

has supplied so many nice things. If one indulges in

meat-eating anyway, it is to be understood that he is

acting in ignorance and is making his future very

dark. Of all kinds of animal killing, the killing of

cows is most vicious because the cow gives us all

kinds of pleasure by supplying milk. Cow slaughter

is an act of the grossest type of ignorance. In the

Vedic literature (Rig Veda 9.4.64) indicate that one

who, being fully satisfied by milk, is desirous of

killing the cow is in the grossest ignorance. There is

also a prayer in the Vedic literature that states:

 

namo brahmanya-devaya

go-brahmanyaa-hitaaya ca

jagad-dhitaaya krishnaya

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.” (Visnuu Purana 1.19.65) The purport is that

special mention is given in that prayer for the

protection of the cows and the brahmanas. Brahmanas

are the symbol of spiritual education, and cows are

the symbol of the most valuable food; these two living

creatures, the brahmanas and the cows, must be given

all protection—that is real advancement of

civilization.

 

 

BG verse 18.44

==============

 

Farming, cow protection and business are the natural

work for the vaisyas, and for the sudras there is

labor and service to

 

others.

 

SB 1.11.28 Purport

===============

 

According to scriptures also, there are seven mothers:

(1) the real mother, (2) the wife of the spiritual

master, (3) the

 

wife of a brahmana, (4) the wife of the king, (5) the

cow, (6) the nurse, and (7) the earth. All of them are

mothers.

 

SB 8.8.11 Purport

=================

 

Panca-gavya, the five products received from the cow,

namely milk, yogurt, ghee, cow dung and cow urine, are

required in all ritualistic ceremonies performed

according to the Vedic directions. Cow urine and cow

dung are uncontaminated, and since even the urine and

dung of a cow are important, we can just imagine how

important this animal is for human civilization.

Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna,

directly advocates go-rakshya, the protection of cows.

Civilized men who follow

the system of varnasrama, especially those of the

vaisya class, who engage in agriculture and trade,

must give protection to the cows.

 

 

SB 12.3.36 Puport

===========

 

In India, the cow is considered sacred not because

Indian people are primitive worshipers of mythological

totems but because Hindus intelligently understand

that the cow is a mother. As children, nearly all of

us were nourished with cow’s milk, and

therefore the cow is one of our mothers. Certainly

one’s mother is sacred, and therefore we should not

kill the sacred cow.

 

“In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the

offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a

cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of

sannyasa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the

forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in

his brother’s wife.” (Brahma-vaivarta Purana,

Krishna-janma-khanda 185.180)

 

CC Adi 17.166

===========

 

“Cow-killers are condemned to rot in hellish life for

as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the

body of the cow.The following is a part of an

interview with freelance reporter Sandy Nixon took

place in July 1975, in Srila Prabhupada’s

quarters at the Krsna center in Philadelphia

 

Ms. Nixon: Can one function better in society by

becoming Krishna conscious?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, you can see that my disciples

are not drunkards or meat-eaters, and from a

physiological point of view they are very

clean—they’ll never be attacked by serious diseases.

Actually, giving up meat-eating is not a question of

Krishna consciousness but of civilized human life. God

has given human society so many things to eat—nice

fruits, vegetables, grain, and first-class milk. From

milk one can prepare hundreds of nutritious foods, but

no one knows the art. Instead, people

maintain big slaughterhouses and eat meat. They are

not even civilized. When man is uncivilized, he kills

poor animals and eats them.

 

Civilized men know the art of preparing nutritious

foods from milk. For instance, on our New Vrindavana

farm in West Virginia, we make hundreds of first-class

preparations from milk. Whenever visitors come, they

are astonished that from milk such nice foods can be

prepared. The blood of the cow is very nutritious, but

civilized men utilize it in the form of milk. Milk is

nothing but cow’s blood transformed. You can make milk

into so many things—yogurt, curd, ghee (clarified

butter), and so on—and by combining these milk

products with grains, fruits, and vegetables, you can

make hundreds of preparations. This is civilized

life—not directly killing an animal and eating its

flesh. The innocent cow is simply eating grass given

by God and supplying milk, which you can live on. Do

you think cutting the cow’s throat and eating its

flesh is civilized?

 

Part of Sri Isopanishad Introducion

==============

 

For instance, in India cow dung is accepted as pure,

and yet cow dung is the stool of an animal. In one

place you’ll find the Vedic injunction that if you

touch stool, you have to take a bath immediately. But

in another place it is said that the stool of a cow is

pure. If you smear cow dung in an impure place, that

place becomes pure. With our ordinary sense we can

argue, “This is contradictory.” Actually, it is

contradictory from the ordinary point of view, but it

is not false. It is fact. In Calcutta, a very

prominent scientist and doctor analyzed cow dung and

found that it contains all antiseptic properties.

 

 

Journey of self discovery

=================

 

Jyotirmaya-devi dasi: That priest who visited was

telling you that he was asking all his parishioners to

follow God’s law. So you asked him if he was going to

get them to follow the fifth commandment, the law

against killing—including animal-killing and

especially cow-killing.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, this is our proposal: “Why

should you kill the cow? Let the cow be protected.”

You can take the cow’s milk and use this milk for

making so many nutritious, delicious preparations.

Aside from that, as far as meat-eating is concerned,

every cow will die—so you just wait a while, and there

will be so many dead cows. Then you can take all the

dead cows and eat. So how is this a bad proposal? If

you say, “You are restraining us from meat-eating”—no,

we don’t restrain you.

 

We simply ask you, “Don’t kill. When the cow is dead,

you can eat it.”

 

 

Quest for enlightment

==================

 

Especially in your country, America, you have so many

nice vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk products. So

why should you kill the cow? You have taken our

prasadam feasts. How delicious they are! So why kill

the cow? Sometimes people argue that vegetables also

have life. Yes, we admit this. But that is why we eat

only prasadam, food offered to Krishna before being

eaten. Whatever Krishna leaves, we take. This is our

process. We don’t take directly. So, while the

vegetables have life, Krishna says, patram puapam

phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati tad aham …

asnami: “If one lovingly offers Me a leaf, a flower, a

fruit, or water, I will accept it.” Then there is no

sin in eating the vegetables.

 

 

--- kapil_bidu <kapil_bidu wrote:

 

>

>

> Hare Krisna

>

> Could anyone post on the importance of the cow in

> the Vaishnav

> community and why is it considered so sacred

> compared to the other

> animals?

>

 

 

=====

- Nilesh D. Chandode,

 

 

 

 

 

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