THE ALL - REVERED COW

Dhenu sadanam rayeenaam 

(Atharvaved 11.1.34)
Cow is fountainhead of all bounties

The above sloka reflects the deep understanding of the creation as possessed by the Vedic seer. A special animal, it's every aspect is a boon to mankind. The Vedic seers called it the mother, the source of nourishment of creation.              

This gentle bovine has garnered a considerable amount of interest and reference that go beyond ancient Vedic texts spanning other civilizations like Greece, Mesopotamia and Rome.                                                                                

The Egyptians worshipped her as Hathor, the Goddess of Fertility, while those from this side of the Indus called her the Kamdhenu (cow of plenty) and Lord Shiva's favourite Nandi. The Greeks knew her as Lo and the Nordics as Audhumbla, the primeval cow who licked ice and brought mankind into existence.                                                                                                     

There is a story in the Mahabharata where the great sage Chyawan, in a barter deal with King Nahush, puts his worth as equivalent to a cow – indicating how evolved a being it is. It is an intelligent being and the karmic implications of causing harm to it are severe, likewise the karmic benefits of serving it are also manifold.                                                                                                      

You must have also read in your history books that Buddha's name was Gautam. The name Gautama is derived from two words gau (or cow) and uttama (or greatest). Combined, the two words mean the greatest cow or the ultimate cow. The word gau also referred to the white colour of cows; hence Gautama was also the ultimate white light. Even the most sacred spot of the Buddhists is Bodh Gaya. Gaya is simply another word for cow.                                                     

Quite contrary to what the current generation considers as mumbo-jumbo, the efficacy of these Vedic principles have infact found acceptability worldwide and through centuries. In the diary of Sir Cunningham kept at the National Archives, he made not only a sketch of a calf and cow on the third page, but also notes on the scientific and logical benefits of preserving this animal.

So, what is it about the cow that caused it to be revered across cultures and also caught the attention of the learned archaeologist?

Various cultures describe the immense benefits of preserving and serving this animal. It is said that,

• If you regularly feed cows and they lick your head then your hidden mental abilities fructify. This was true for the great Saint Kabir, for his poetic abilities manifested only once he was licked by a cow on his head.
• Massaging a cow ensures a strong and beautiful body with longevity. 
• Doing service to its calf gives you the benefit of healthy relationships in your life. Also, in no culture or religion is eating its meat considered healthy.

The cow has been called the mother for a reason. Everything it produces is for the benefit of mankind and creation at large. The all-giving cow gives mankind 

• Nourishment - milk and dairy products,
• Medicines -Panchgavya,cow urine which acts as a natural pesticide,  
• Agriculture -bio- pesticides and manure as a fuel and natural fertilizer 
• Energy - biogas.
• Soil quality - As she walks down our soils, the land gets tilled and free of termites,
• Interaction with energy - when we wish to interact with the gods and goddesses; we make use of her ghee and upla to perform a yajna.

SAVE A COW

Today this revered animal suffers unimaginably at the hands of humans who exploit it incessantly.

• Cows are butchered mercilessly for their skin, meat and bones. Despite cow slaughter being illegal in most parts of the country, they are being killed mercilessly and brutally - legs chopped off, nails hammered into their skull, necks slowly cut, forcing them to die slow painful deaths.
• They are also injected with hormones to increase production of milk. Their calves separated at birth so that the entire milk produced can be sold, without understanding the pain of this all-giving mother. They are left scrounging for food at garbage dumps where they ingest plastic wastes and succumb to a painful death.
• What most people do not know is that these gentle bovines, have a very complicated digestive system, and with continued ingestion of plastic over a period of time, it gets trapped in their stomachs forever with no scope for excretion or digestion, therefore getting entangled with different materials inside and turning hard, like cement in their rumens (the first belly of the cow). This is a 'Plastic Cow' and it is sentenced to a slow, gruelling death.
• Infact many NGOs have reported that surgeries on such cows that have been brought in on some occasions, have removed over 30-40 kgs of plastic from their bellies in addition to iron mesh, stones, sand etc.

Sadly, this all-giving cow today is an animal that is ignored, abused, exploited, abandoned and murdered to feed our selfish motives.

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