Cattle in religion and mythology
In Hinduism, the cow is often, but not universally, considered sacred and its protection is a recurrent theme in which the cow is symbolic of abundance, of the sanctity of all life and of the earth that gives much while asking nothing in return. Most Hindus respect the cow as a matriarchal figure for its gentle qualities and providing nurturing milk and its products for a largely vegetarian diet. It holds an honored place in society, and it is part of Hindu tradition to avoid the consumption of beef.
Origins
There is no consensus on whether the cow was sacred and forbidden in the Hindu diet from ancient Vedic times. In their Dharmasutras, Vasishta, Gautama and Apastambha prohibit eating the flesh of both cows and draught oxen, while Baudhya-yana exacts penances for killing a cow, and stricter ones for killing a milk animal or draught ox. Starting with prohibitions on cow slaughter for ritual brahminical sacrifice, revulsion spread to the eating of all types of beef.[1]
The cow was possibly revered because the largely pastoral Vedic people and subsequent generations relied heavily on it for dairy products and tilling of the fields, and cow dung as a source of fuel and fertilizer. Universally, Hindus still use cow dung for various purposes; the burning of cow dung creates an insecticide to repel mosquitoes, and ash formed from cow dung is used in conjunction with various herbs and sandalwood to apply to their foreheads. Thus, the cow’s status as a 'caretaker' led to identifying it as an almost maternal figure (so the term gau mata).
Hinduism, or Sanatan Dharma, is based on the concept of omni-presence of the Almighty, and the presence of a soul in all creatures, including the bovines. Thus, by that definition, killing any animal would be a sin; one would be obstructing the natural cycle of birth and death of that creature: The creature would have to be reborn in that same form because of its unnatural death. Historically, even Krishna, one of the most revered forms of the Almighty (Avataar), tended cows.
Despite the differences of opinion regarding the origins of the cow's elevated status, reverence for cows appears throughout major texts of the Hindu religion.
Sanskrit term
The most common word for cow is go, cognate with the English cow and Latin bos, all from PIE cognates *gwous. The Sanskrit word for cattle is paśu, from PIE *peḱu-. Other terms are dhenu cow and uks.an ox.
Milk cows are also called a-ghnya "that which may not be slaughtered".[2] Depending on the interpretation of terminology used for a cow, the cow may have been protected.
The cow in the Hindu scriptures
Rig Veda
Cattle were important to the Rigvedic people, and several hymns refer to ten thousand and more cattle.[3] Rig Veda 7.95.2. and other verses (e.g. 8.21.18) also mention that the Sarasvati region poured milk and "fatness" (ghee), indicating that cattle were herded in this region.
In the Rig Veda, the cows figure frequently as symbols of wealth, and also in comparison with river goddesses, e.g. in 3.33.1cd,
According to Aurobindo, in the Rig Veda the cows sometimes symbolize "light" and "rays".[4] Aurobindo wrote that Aditi (the supreme Prakriti/Nature force) is described as a cow, and the Deva or Purusha (the supreme being/soul) as a bull.[5]
The Vedic god Indra is often compared to a bull.[5]
Rivers are often likened to cows in the Rigveda, Vyasa said:[citation needed]
Cows are sacred. They are embodiments of merit. They are high and most efficacious cleansers of all.
Harivamsha
The Harivamsha depicts Krishna as a cowherd. He is often described as Bala Gopala, "the child who protects the cows." Another of Krishna's names, Govinda, means "one who brings satisfaction to the cows." Other scriptures identify the cow as the "mother" of all civilization, its milk nurturing the population. The gift of a cow is applauded as the highest kind of gift.
The milk of a cow is believed to promote Sattvic (purifying) qualities. The ghee (clarified butter) from the milk of a cow is used in ceremonies and in preparing religious food. Cow dung is used as fertilizer, as a fuel and as a disinfectant in homes. Modern science acknowledges that the smoke from cow dung is a powerful disinfectant and an anti-pollutant. Its urine is also used for religious rituals as well as medicinal purposes. The supreme purificatory material, panchagavya, was a mixture of five products of the cow, namely milk, curds, ghee, urine and dung. The interdiction of the meat of the bounteous cow as food was regarded as the first step to total vegetarianism.[6]
Puranas
The earth-goddess Prithvi was, in the form of a cow, successively milked of various beneficent substances for the benefit of humans, by various deities.[7]
In Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion related historically and religiously with Hinduism.
The term "geush urva" means the spirit of the cow and is interpreted as the soul of the earth. In the Ahunavaiti Gatha, Zarathustra (or Zoroaster) accuses some of his co-religionists of abusing the cow.[8] Ahura Mazda tells Zarathustra to protect the cow.[9]
The lands of both Zarathustra and the Vedic priests were those of cattle breeders.[10]
The 9th chapter of the Vendidad of the Avesta expounds the purificatory power of cow urine.[11] It is declared to be a panacea for all bodily and moral evils. It is drunk as well as applied externally as is done by Hindus also.[12] Urine of the bull, called "nirang", is brought to the house of an orthodox Parsi every morning and is (like cow milk) applied to the face, hands and feet.[13]
In Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptians sacrifice animals, but not the cow because it was sacred to goddess Isis and the Grecian Io, who has the horns of a cow.[14]
Historical significance
The reverence for the cow played a role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company. Hindu and Muslim sepoys in the Army of East India Company came to believe (correctly) that the new bullets were greased with cow and pig fat. The consumption of swine is forbidden in Islam. Since gunloading required biting of the bullet, they believed that the British were forcing them to break their religion.
A recent Hindi film, Mangal Pandey: The Rising, focuses primarily on this issue and the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Sacred cows today
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Today, in Hindu majority nations like India and Nepal, bovine milk continues to hold a central place in religious rituals. In honor of their exalted status, cows often roam free, even along (and in) busy streets in major cities such as Delhi. In some places, it is considered good luck to give one a snack, or fruit before breakfast. In places where there is a ban on cow slaughter, a citizen can be sent to jail for killing or injuring a cow.
With injunctions against eating the cow, a system evolved where only the pariah fed on dead cows and treated their leather.
The law in India
Cow slaughter is illegal.... in all of India except two provinces, the states of West Bengal and Kerala. Cows are routinely shipped to these provinces for slaughter, even though it is illegal to transport cows for slaughter across provincial borders.[15] However, many illegal slaughterhouses also operate in big cities such as Mumbai. While there are approximately 3,600 slaughterhouses operating legally in India, there are estimated to be over 30,000 illegal slaughterhouses.[16] The efforts to close them down have so far been largely unsuccessful.
See also
- Kamadhenu
- Gangotri
- Gober
- Ghee
- Panchamrit
- Vishwa Gou Sammelana
- Shambo
- Zebu, the common breed of cow from India
- Domestic Asian Water Buffalo
- cow
Notes
- ^ (Achaya 2002, p. 16-17)
- ^ V.M. Apte, Religion and Philosophy, The Vedic Age
- ^ (e.g. RV 8.1.33; 8.2.41; 8.4.20; 8.5.37; 8.6.47; 8.21.18; 5.27.1; 1.126.3)
- ^ (RV 1.92.4; 4.52.5; 7.79.2), Aurobindo: The Secret of the Veda; Sethna 1992
- ^ a b Sethna 1992:42
- ^ (Achaya 2002, p. 55)
- ^ [1]
- ^ Clark, P. 13 Zoroastrianism
- ^ Clark, P. 13 Zoroastrianism
- ^ Vogelsang, P. 63 The Afghans
- ^ P. 72 Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture By D. R. Bhandarkar
- ^ P. 72 Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture By D. R. Bhandarkar
- ^ P. 72 Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture By D. R. Bhandarkar
- ^ P. 57 Analysis and summary of Herodotus, with a synchronistical table of principal events; tables of weights, measures, money, and distances; an outline of the history and geography; and the dates completed from Gaisford, Baehr, etc., by J. Talboys Wheeler By James Talboys Wheeler
- ^ Rahman, Maseeh (2000-05-29). "Is Nothing Sacred?". Time Asia. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Sacred No Longer". Advocates for Animals. Summer 2004. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
References
- Template:Harvard reference.
- K. D. Sethna, The Problem of Aryan Origins 1980, 1992; ISBN 81-85179-67-0
- Shaffer, Jim G. (1995). Cultural tradition and Palaeoethnicity in South Asian Archaeology. In: Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia. Ed. George Erdosy. ISBN 3-11-014447-6
- Shaffer, Jim G. (1999). Migration, Philology and South Asian Archaeology. In: Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Ed. Bronkhorst and Deshpande. ISBN 1-888789-04-2.
External links
- Cows in Hinduism
- Sacredness of cow in Rigveda and the words of Gandhi, from Hinduism Today
- Cow urine products, from The Hindu
- Milk in a vegetarian diet, from Sanatan Society, a Hindu association
- Sacred No Longer: The suffering of cattle for the Indian leather trade, from Advocates for Animals
- Rise In Animal Slaughter in India, by Tony Mathews
- "Pamela Anderson Lee Exposes Animal Cruelty in the International Leather Trade", from PETA
- Deonar Abattoir: Report on the Failure of Government and of Management to Meet Humane, Hygiene, Religious, and Legal Standards for Slaughter and Animal Handling, from PETA
- People for Animals, an Indian animal rights organisation
- India cow report, by Balabhadra das, ISCOWP