The Holy Cow



The cow is sacred to the Hindus, a fact that puzzles the foreigner who finds numerous animals wandering the streets of the towns and cities, muzzling at fruit and vegetable stalls and sometimes obstructing traffic. The sacred ness of the cow is a central and crucial clement in Hindu belief. The cow is supposed to be the living symbol of Mother Earth. For the early migrants the cow was an indispensable member of the family. As agriculture was the occupation of the migrants, the cow provided them with milk and its byproducts and also necessities of life such as fuel, manure for the farm, etc. During this time the Aryans prayed to their numerous gods through ‘yagna’ (from ‘yaj’, to worship). This was initially a simple way of private worship but became public in character and consisted of invoking the fire-god, ‘Agni’, by ritually kindling sacred wood on an altar, and keeping the fire alive by constantly feeding it with melted butter. It was through the instrumentality of ‘Agni’ (fire) that the offering of milk-pudding and a drink of milk, curds and honey (madhupeya) was conveyed to one’s chosen gods. Thus the cow supplied the major requirements of the yagna and this association soon made it sacred.

Later on animal sacrifices waned as gradually the Hindus veered towards vegetarianism due to the influence of early Jainism and Buddhism, specially on the Brabmins and Vaishyas. Gradually the cow came to be known as ‘Gaumata’ (cow the Mother) and ‘Aditi’ (mother of gods). The rise of Vaishnavism amongst the prosperous middle and lower castes (expressed in the figure of the cowherd god Krishna) helped consolidate the importance and the religious glorification of the cow. Some of the other factors which resulted in its sanctity were; its figurative usage in Vedic literature which later was taken literally; prohibitions against killing a Brahmin’s (priest’s) cow and lastly, the symbol of cow protection as an affirmation of religious solidarity against Muslim invaders.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Murugan thangaraj:
The cow is just a animal the foolish are worshipping animals, stone, water, trees, etc day by day there are creating the god by own imagination so that, we are now not able to suggest the true one god. so friends past is past the uneducated elders done this foolish work. don't compare god to animals, trees, etc the animal is animal, the tree is tree, water is water, sun is sun, moon is moon, we are now going back to LKG the god is one.

Mani said...

Murugan, you are sounding very intelligent! Who first taught and explained us about Sun, Trees, Water, Cows etc. Can you please enlighten us sir?

Unknown said...

Who can believe on a person who has not respect for his elders. Our elders such a Rishi Muni were not uneducated Mr Murgan T is making statement according to his convenient. Here , I am quoted Mahatma Gandhi who said on Cow " Mother cow is in many ways better than the mother who gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk for a couple of years and then expects us to serve her when we grow up. Mother cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our mother often falls ill and expects service from us. Mother cow rarely falls ill. Here is an unbroken record of service which does not end with her death. Our mother, when she dies, means expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is as useful dead as when she is alive. We can make use of every part of her body her flesh, her bones, her intestines, her horns and her skin. Well, I say this not to disparage the mother who gives us birth, but in order to show you the substantial reasons for my worshipping the cow.”