Gosamrakshanam

[Guest guest]

adiyen dasasya vignaapanam. For those who are not rs to " The New Indian Express " adiyen reproduce an article written by Dr. Subramanian Swamy that appeared today the 21/11/2009.

 

SAVE THE COW, SAVE THE EARTH

 

Our West-influenced intellectuals sneer at the mention of the

cow. The same intellectuals first sneered at yoga. Now it is a fashion

to do pranayama at cocktail parties The arguments in the West for cow

slaughter are no more uncontested. There are better sources of protein

than beef. Any dietician's chart shows that beef with 22 per cent

protein ranks below soya-bean (43), groundnut (31) and pulses (24 per

cent). One kg of beef takes seven kg of crops and 7,000 kg of water to

produceIndia has 150 million cows, each of them giving an

average of less than 200 litres of milk per year. If they could be fed

and looked after, they can give 11,000 litres, as Israeli cows do. That

would provide milk for the whole world. The milk we produce today is

the cheapest in the world. With enhanced production we could become the

world's largest exporter of milk and it could be India's biggest

foreign exchange earner. Our West-influenced intellectuals sneer at

the mention of the cow. The same intellectuals first sneered at yoga.

Now it is a fashion to do pranayama at cocktail parties. They sneered

at our sanyasis as `godmen'. Now they flock to ashrams with their white

friends ever since the Beatles. Who knows, they may soon have a cow in

their backyards.For those of us who are desi by pedigree and conviction, I place some facts about the cow in the perspective of modern Hindutva.

 

The cow was elevated to divinity in the Rig Veda. In Book VI, Hymn

XXVIII attributed to Rishi Bhardwaja extols the virtue of the cow. In

Atharva Veda (Book X, Hymn X), the cow is formally designated as

Vishnu, and `all that the Sun surveys'. Indian society has

addressed the cow as gow mata. The Churning of the Sea episode brings

to light the story of the creation of the cow. Five divine Kamadhenus

(wish cows), viz, Nanda, Subhadra, Surabhi, Sushila, Bahula emerged in

the churning. Thousands of names in our country are cow-related:

Gauhati, Gorakhpur, Goa, Godhra, Gondiya, Godavari, Goverdhan, Gautam,

Gomukh, Gokarna, Goyal, Gochar etc.They signify reverence for the cow, and our abiding faith that the cow is Annapurna.

In 2003, the National Commission on Cattle under Justice G M Lodha

submitted its recommendations to the NDA government. The report called

for stringent laws to protect the cow and its progeny in the interest

of the rural economy, a constitutional requirement under Directive

Principles of State Policy. Article 48 of the Constitution says: `The

State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on

modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for

preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of

cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle'. During the First

War of Independence in 1857, when Bahadur Shah `Zafar' was installed as

emperor by the Hindus in Delhi for a brief period, his Hindu prime

minister, on the emperor's proclamation, made cow killing a capital

offence. In Maharaja Ranjit Singh's kingdom, the only crime that

invited capital punishment was cow slaughter. The cow, according

to the Vedas, provides four products for human use: (i) Godugdha (cow

milk): As per Ayurveda, cow milk has fat, carbohydrates, minerals and

Vitamin B, and even a capacity for body resistance to radiation and for

regenerating brain cells. (ii) Goghruta (ghee): The best ghee, it is,

as per Ayurveda useful in many disorders. In yajna, it improves the

air's oxygen level. (iii) Gomutra (urine): Eight types of urine are

used for medicinal purpose nowadays, among which cow urine is held to

be the best. The Americans are busy patenting it. It has anti-cancer,

anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antioxidant properties.It has

immune-modulator properties, which makes it useful for immune

deficiency diseases. In the classics there are many references to cow

urine as a drug of choice. Even the Parsis follow this practice.

Lastly, (iv), Gomaya (dung) is considered as valuable as Gomutra and

used to purify the environment, as it has radium and checks radiation

effects. Ancient Hindu wisdom on the medicinal properties of cow

urine is borne out by two patents granted in the US for cow urine

distillate (Patent numbers 6410059 and 6896907).Even China has

granted the distillate a patent as a DNA protector. A global patent has

been granted for cow urine, neem and garlic as a pest repellent and for

fungicidal and growth promoting properties for different crops (WHO

2004/ 087618A1). A US patent has been granted for strains from Sahiwal

cow milk for plant growth promoter phytopathogenic fungi controlling

activity, abiotic stress tolerating capability, phosphatic

solubilisation capability, etc. And CSIR has filed for a US patent for

amrit pani, a mixture of cow dung, cow urine and jiggery, for soil

health improvement properties. These claims were initially made

in the Charaka Samhita, Sushrut, Vaghbhati and Nighantu, Ratnakar, etc.

They prove the utility of cow dung and urine for sustainable

agriculture as well as for disease prevention. The arguments in

the West for cow slaughter are no more uncontested. There are better

sources of protein than beef. Any dietician's chart shows that beef

with 22 per cent protein ranks below soya-bean (43), groundnut (31) and

pulses (24 per cent). One kilogram of beef takes seven kg of crops and

7,000 kg of water to produce. Thus cow protection makes economic

and ecological sense. Swami Dayananda Saraswati, convenor of the Hindu

Dharma Acharya Sabha, has argued that non-vegetarianism indirectly

contributes heavily to greenhouse gases and other pollution. He

quotes a UN report from 2006 that says, " Raising animals for meat as

food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in

the world combined " . Ten of billions of animals farmed for food release

gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide through their

massive amounts of manure. " The released methane " , the report says,

" has 23 times the global warming potential of CO2 " . For these animals

to graze, virgin forests are cleared. The livestock industry also needs

vast stretches of land to raise mono-crops to feed the animals. The CO2

that the trees and plants store escapes into the air when they are

destroyed. Growing fodder implies heavy use of synthetic fertilizers produced with fossil fuels.While

this process emits a huge amount of CO2, the fertilizer itself releases

nitrous oxide (3) -- a greenhouse gas that is 296 times more potent

than CO2. Alarming though these facts are, all that people have to do

is to avoid red meat. There will be no need to breed millions of

animals for daily slaughter. The animal population will consequently

decline. A single individual by not consuming meat prevents the

equivalent of 1.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions in a year. This is more than

the one tonne of CO 2 prevented by switching from a large sedan to a

small car.So there are a number of reasons to be a vegetarian.

People who eat meat think a pure vegetarian diet is optional. But now

they have no choice if they are alive to what is happening to this

life-bearing planet. There is no justification for eating meat, given

the devastating consequences for the planet. A new fervour for a

cow renaissance is necessary. It is constitutional and we should defend

it with all our might About The Author; Subramanian Swamy is a former

Union minister Adiyen,Dasan,Thiruppathi RaguveeradayalC/O SRIRANGAM SRIMAD ANDAVAN ASHRAMAM,THIRUPPULLANI 62353204567-254242//919443301091http://thiruppul.blogspot.com

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