In Nepal, there has been a lot of controversy in the matter of cow. In this country of Pashupatinath, the debate related to our holy animal cow is a unique topic and a matter of despair for many people whereas a matter related to their rights for other. Is the act of consuming chicken, goat and many other animals and birds not enough that people are being voracious towards consuming our national animal cow or is this the step of continual evolution of foreign culture in our eternal (सनातन) culture?

During the growing discussions and followers of the Sanskrit, ancient cultures, and science in the world, are we embracing the outer elements by leaving behind our culture? It is all about our choice and discipline, however, our responsibility is to choose which side to choose on the truth and false choices.

Today we are bringing respect towards cow and the proximity of cow and human life to light. According to our culture, cow is looked far above from just an animal. Cow is a family member as per our rituals. She is viewed as a mother as she feeds us with milk just like our mothers do.

The ritual of donating cow is performed in every religious activity of our eternal culture. In present day, the act of holding cow’s tail and donating isn’t practiced as frequently as done before. Instead people donate money in duna and tapari as a representation of cow and do the rituals. On the other hand, cow murder is the most disgusting act of eternal (sanatan) life. This is a fierce and demonic sin. Why is it even present in this sacred ritual, when we have this great place of cows?  Today let’s quake the adjacent relation of cow and people who grew in eternal cultural environment.

In ancient cultures, worship is not only limited to cow but also of snakes, monkeys, mountains, grains, plants, and all the elements in the universe. The eternal gods live in different cosmic and supernatural forms and nature, and today the Quantum Physics has touched this belief. Quantum Physics advocates there is power in every component and element of earth. Thousands of years ago, the sacred rituals have already stated there is origin of God and everlasting power in every component.

The sight of cows walking freely in roads of different cities is quite common in Nepal and India and the people have always treated cows by harmony and love. These views are rarely seen in foreign lands. Again, we are not trying to say it is good for animals to walk freely on roads; however, we cannot ignore the aged relationship of this society with the cows. Even now, cows can be seen walking in the roads of Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Banaras, Kolkata, Ilahbaad including many cities in India and Nepal.

Throughout the world, the worshippers of eternal religions and Hinduism only imagine cow as a pure holy animal. In this sense the identity and ideal of Hinduism can be based on our devi (the Hindu divine mother), cow. Although living many years in foreign land, many people have never eaten the flesh of cow and if ate, they experience self-hatred and guilt.

In Vedic traditions, there was religious ritual of donating a cow to bride and bridegroom and give farewell to the newly wed and this tradition is still alive. By doing so, the couple is ensured of having cow as a source of living which makes their life easier. In this sense a cow can be regarded as a source of living, a hereditary heritage, and the highest caretaker of human life.

Although the use of buffalo may have been similar or could have been used for milk consumption, however, the eternal culture has recognized cow as mother and given mother’s importance. People don’t take buffalo as an animal to worship as it is recognized as the vehicle of Yamraj. The cow is associated with Lord Vishnu. Shri Hari and cows are closely linked, and the bull is also considered as part of the Shiva. The tales of Lord Durga and Ayappa killing buffalo are also quite popular.

On the Baishnav dhara, cow is taken as the illustration of Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), and in Bhagwat Purana, the story of the whole earth expressing itself in the form of a cow and appealing  Lord Vishnu to protect her is mentioned. That is why Vishnu is also considered to be Gopal’s (cow’s) defense or protector.

The Kathmandu city is a pre-historic city in the world – its history is associated with the ancient civilization. The kings who ruled in Kathmandu were also called Gopal dynasty or cow rearing dynasty. The close relation of cow and Pashupatinath also has been since ancient times. If we look at the overall picture, this earth can be taken in the form of a cow, and we all are children nourished and nurtured by mother earth living in the large paradise of the mother cow.

Many Vedic verses and statements repeatedly say that Lord Krishna and Lord Parshuram come as guards every time a cow is killed and sin grows on the earth.

We would like to mention how Lord Krishna prepares Arjun for the war as per Bhagwat Gita. Arjun says that he should not be against his own person and this act does not protect anyone. Then Krishna confronts Arjun about protecting religion through the following verses.

यदा यदा ही धर्मस्य, ग्लानिर्भवति भारत
अभ्युत्थानम् धर्मस्य, तदात्मनं सृजाम्यहम्

That means every time religion is violated and atheism takes over the world, Lord Krishna will come to earth in a new avatar every time to protect the religion. He further prepares arjun saying, “Oh Arjun you have to be the protector of this religion and destroy atheism and this is your first and foremost duty.”

It is mentioned in the same context that Lord Indra had Kamadhenu (generic name of sacred cow). Kamadhenu originated from an ocean of milk and was capable of fulfilling all the aspirations of the same human beings just like Kalpabrikshya. Kalpabrikshya is an endangered word that was used widely in our cultural society. In present context, it isn’t used that frequently but this word is a mythological word in our traditional society. As a tree of fulfillment of every desire, definition of Kalpabrikshya is known in many texts of Vedic eternal religion.

There is a well known story about Kamadhenu. In Paradise, one day, after Kamadhenu was tried to be stolen, this cow herself created soldiers to protect him.

Similarly, Maharishi Jamadgani also had a cow and when Kartivyarjun was trying to steal that cow, Parshuram (the son of Jamadgani) destroyed him in pieces. According to Raghubhasha, Lord Rama’s ancestor Dilip served himself as a beast food to protect his cow from the attack of tigers and bears.

In our society, cow is not only seen from the perspective of milk feeding or domestic animal, it is taken as an animal that we need to protect. Everything is important from milk to little things of cow. So clearly, the act of killing cow and consuming it is disrespect towards the nature. Now the defense issues are being raised around the world, in India, there is a silent war between the cow eating community and cow worshipping community.

The thought of killing and consuming our holy animal cow brings us the sense of wrongdoing and pity. There are plenty of other creatures to consume. As milk is consumed from the body of the mother, the cow also needs to be considered as a mother. The significance of the cow is not only with the eternal community but it is similar to all and for all.

The glory of Krishna is also found as the guard or guardian of cow.  In the Bhagwat, Krishna has assassinated bulls and goat. Even Buddhism and Jainism support non violence. The love for cow and devotion towards cow is also associated with these religions. Besides that, according to Jaydev, Lord Buddha is also taken as an avatar of Lord Vishnu. To keep cow as a domestic cattle  trees, plants, open spaces, and forests are necessary, and this is also beneficial to the environment as plants and open fields are good for the surrounding we live in.

In the Gita section of the Mahabharata, there is a story of a Kasai. The essence of this story is that the violence done to eat is not different than the violence for power and position. It has also been mentioned that buffaloes clear vineyards and destroy toxic plants.

In the past 100 years, people began to eat meat of cow in the Indian continent with the entrance of Islam and Christianity. We come to respect every religion, but when our origin and civilization begins to be in threat, we should also go ahead to protect religion.

Killing creatures is the biggest sin and killing cow is a fierce blasphemy. This may have happened due to lack of understanding the purification of eternal rites and practice of loving cow. The Sindhughati civilization shed the foundation, and the relationship of affection between human beings and cow is invincible.

In Puranas, the worship of the cow is said to be equal to worshiping all Hindu gods at once. The picture of the cow hidden in the pictures of the mountains, water, sky, and all the things explain the power and glory of the cow. Initializing cow murders in order to attack Hinduism is a matter of shame.

Translated By Archeesa Aryal