time to give up milk even in India?

[Guest guest]

bhakti-list, Mani Varadarajan <mani@a...> wrote:

>

>

> What do you all think about this? Is it time to give up drinking

> commercially produced milk? Is it not a violation of the

> Vaishnava dharma to participate in such injury?

>

> It pains me to no end to read how we torture our fellow beings.

>

> "ahimsA prathamam pushpam ...

> sarva-bhUta-dayA pushpam ...

> vishnoH prItikaram bhavet"

>

> "Non-injury and compassion to all living creatures

> are two of the flowers which truly please Vishnu."

>

> aDiyEn,

> Mani

 

I am deeply saddened and disillusioned by Sri Mani's posting. While I

certainly cannot even begin to explain the enigma that is India, I

would like to share a few thoughts as to what we in the West can do.

 

Unlike much of the rest of the world, and contrary to popular belief,

the USA offers many options to those who for spiritual, health, or

environmentally conscious reasons, prefer alternative and wholistic

diets. This is particularly so in the Rocky Mountain Region, which

for years has been deeply influenced by Native American and Asian

philosophy. As a result, there are several dairies and milk

producing companies here that are advertising their products as being

guaranteed to be the result of the "humane" treatment of animals.

The cows in such dairies are fed no chemicals or animal by-products,

and if I understand correctly, are allowed to graze and nurse their

calves in a natural way. While most of these dairies are localized

and generally provide door to door service, some, like Horizon Dairy,

sells its products on the shelf in most leading grocery stores. The

milk, of course, is pasteurized in order to meet FDA codes prior to

being packaged. And to meet a larger demographic, it can also be

purchased in low-fat and non-fat varieties, as well as whole milk.

 

My wife and I have been purchasing the milk of what some dairies

call "happy cows" for several years. While it costs a little more,

the health and spiritual benefits are well worth it, what to speak of

the priceless value of being able to offer our perumAl milk that is

produced in a way that makes Him happy.

 

While I have so far spoken only about Colorado, I am certain that

many states have similar facilities. I would like to suggest that we

make a concerted effort to put together a list of these "animal-

friendly" dairies and share them in this forum. If we gather

together with the larger Hindu communities in a concerted effort to

purchase such milk, it could potentially create enough of an impact

to get the mainstream dairies to start thinking about their own

methods of milk production.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mohan

[Guest guest]

Dear All -

 

I thank Sri Mani Varadarajan for bringing up this

important topic of cow's milk.

 

Most Vaishnavas take to cow's milk because it has been

done traditionally - erumai paal is a later day

addition. It is a good idea to stop them but we have

to do it after a proper research in to health impacts.

Some of the vaishnava food habits like giving up

onion, garlic etc. deprive the body of necessary

hormones and enzymes leading to lack of energy,

virility etc. It is important to find sattvic &

vegetarian alternative so that the body remains

healthy.

 

I met a PETA activist who is a vegan vegetarian. She

said she does not even take milk! But as a dancer she

is able to maintain very good health - better than

non-vegetarians who face obesity, cancer threat and

other problems.

 

If we give good diet alternatives - yes we all can

follow. If we can maintain a healthy body with strong

muscles and have high stamina levels by eating

vegetarian food, we can apply peer pressure on others

also who constantly fight their fat.

 

I am positive that it is possible.

 

Yours humbly

Rajaram

[Guest guest]

Thanks to Sri Mani for bringing these facts to our attention. It saddens me to

read about the cows beings mistreated - this when we know how much Sree Krishna

loved and respected these animals. One alternative that we have chosen for the

past few months is try alternative "milk" products that offer equivalent amounts

of nutrients like soymilk, almond milk, rice milk. etc. I admit that they are

definately nowhere close to the taste and fulfillment we get from actual cow

milk and perhaps never will be. The consequences of giving up milk on a large

scale by the population might be slaughtering of the cows for their meat, skin

etc - which even the thought of is unbearable.

-Sandhya

[Guest guest]

I thank Sri Mani for showcasing this cruelty.

Traditionally Vaishnavaite families living in villages

used to maintain cows in order to procure milk from

them directly. I vividly remember my family treating

the cows in our backyard as one of our own family

members treating them with utmost love and attention.

Infact, I still remember the day when our beloved cow

died !!eventhough it was about 13 years back. It

certainly pains some one like me who was raised to

treat cows as if one of our own to be exposed to the

facts.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Like everyone, I am also pained to read what Mani has written about

treatment of cows.

 

I have a suggestion. At least some us who can afford some space at our

present/future homes should consider

creating a 'Goshala' and nurture atleast one cow at home. This may need a

small change in the mindset and yet we can try to maintain a decent and a

neat

'Ghoshala' at our homes. Instead of constructing a spa or swimming pool

at our backyard, constructing a clean 'ghoshala' is welcome. As Sri.Mohan

has said, we can offer fresh milk to Our Lord and par take them as

prasadam.

 

 

These ideas are not invented by me . I remember in Kooram village, My aunt

used to have a lot cows and she always used to distribute milk to others

free of cost!! (Remember Brahmins are not suppose to sell Food stuff esp

Milk) She had so much of reverence towards them and every cow is called

as' Laskhmi'

 

I am inspired by Amul director Kurien's( instrumental in Sucess of

'Operation Flood' movement in India which resulted in India being no. in

world in Milk production ) emotions towards Milk production, ,co operative

dairies and care of cattle. I am also inspired by one article in India

today on our Sri.M A Alwar's father on living peacefully with nature. I

think it is right time for us to get all the 'good' ideas of eco

friendliness of olden days.

 

For Information, Last year,, Swami Shankaracharya of Kanchi had launched a

cow protection campaign in India to create awareness among people on

sacredness of Cow and to stop of some vested interests act of driving

off cows and other cattle to border Kerala state from TN where Slaughter

of Cattle is allowed by Govt..

 

I am hearing that even today, many cows were driven from TN to Kerala to

be just slaughtered..... Painful...

 

 

Regards

 

KM Narayanan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Sri Krishna parabhramhane namaha

Thanks Sri Mani Varadharajan for making us aware of

this bitter truth. Also all other vaishnavas for

echoing the same and giving us tips on how to

overcome. Adeyen has another suggestion to add

(nothing new) Most of us are probably are already

practising. We will also have to give up using leather

and fur products like shoes, bags as far as possible.

 

Dasan Srivatsa Kadambi

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Vaishnavas

 

While we are discussing this, I would like to remind you all of a posting

adiyen made a few weeks back. Adiyen and a friend have put up a web page

describing the inhuman treatment meted out to the animals (esp Cow) in India.

The site also has a signature campaign against slaughter and illtreatment of

cows.

 

Most unfortunately, the response to our requests for others to visit, read

the info there and sign the petition (incl one in this list) have elicited

minimal response. We have become so discouraged by the abysmal reaction

that we were even considering taking down the site.

 

I would like to fervently appeal to you all to go visit the site and sign the

campaign. As Sri. Mani has pointed out, you could even consider it a pushpam

placed at His lotus feet.

 

 

The site address is http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~ramakris/cow

 

 

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

 

 

Ramakrishnan

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

Recently there was an article in a leading Tamil weekly about

how the

foils (supposed to be silver) used in sweets are prepared in India. It

seems they are

prepared in leather tanneries mixing beef and things like that . They also

published

gory pictures of the tanneries. since then i've avoided taking sweets with

silver foils.

 

In this case could anyone suggest alternatives? Soya milk etc. could

substitute for

milk. But what abt yogurt,ghee etc?

 

urs humbly,

karthik

 

 

 

Quote of the week:

 

Chance favors the prepared mind.

 

Louis Pasteur

 

 

_______

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

Sri. Mani's post highlighting the cruelty to cows and buffaloes should be

extremely painful to all of us.

 

Beginning with worms and all the way up to elephants, man ill-treats almost

every creature in the animal kingdom on some pretext or the other.

Ironically, for all their derided instincts, animals themselves generally

co-exist peacefully and don't trouble each other except when hungry or

trespassed. And some of the strongest animals are predominantly vegetarians!

It is sad we with so much knowledge and resourcefulness resort to such

savagery against these wonderful creatures.

 

If nothing else, Bhagavan's Matsya, Koorma, VarAha, Narasimha, and

Hayavadana incarnations should remind us of our bonds with animals. As we

learned from another thread, being a Sri Vaishnava involves showing kindness

to all life forms. There are plenty of examples in our purAnAs. Ramayana and

Mahabharatha alone is enough.

 

The bovines probably get the worst treatment from us, dead or alive.

Perhaps, it is time we did something about it. Though consuming milk per se

is not an act of crime, we carry it to such senseless proportions that it

ends up being one. I am not sure if we can completely avoid milk-based

products, but we can definitely reduce the quantity consumed, and keep it to

the absolute minimum. Excessive consumption and senseless misuse is not

restricted to the West or the rich.

 

Today, life on earth stands a good chance of being destroyed by

over-consumption. Our consumption pattern determines the scale of mass

production and resource depletion. Aside from eschewing over consumption,

what needs to change is our attitude. We should be driven by conservation

and not consumption. We need to educate our kids and foster a kind and

respectful attitude towards animals and plants. Worldwide de-forestation in

just the last decade has wiped out green-cover the size of Brazil. When was

the last time we spoke to our kids about kindness to animals and saving

trees?

 

With a burgeoning population, the value or respect for 'life' continues to

decline steadily and precipitously. Cynical as it may sound, it is

unfortunately today's harsh reality, especially in India /Third World.

"Aping" the West culture, has led to more problems than we imagined. Rather

than learn from their mistakes, we simply follow suit with even more

impunity, trying to play catch-up.

 

We do the same with plants and trees, and now we are beginning to mess with

human lives as well! Tinkering with nature to unethical proportions, we

completely ignore the negative consequences. True, genetic engineering has

helped us grow better varieties of disease-resistant, high-yield crops and

eradicate many human and animal diseases as well, but we need to adopt a

more balanced, holistic approach.

 

Basically, we simply do not (and should) know when to stop. Let us not

forget the maxim, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it".

 

Reverently,

Sriram

[Guest guest]

[ Posted on behalf of Sri Asuri Bharath of Bangalore

<asurib ]

 

Dear Sri Mani,

I greatly appreciated your posting . God bless you .

I have been interested in animal rights issues for long , and it

always disturbed me that the orthodoxy didnt seem concerned enough ,

apart from paying lip service to cows being sacred . I am happy that

you have created awareness on the subject .

 

I would like to add a few words on the cow issue and hope you will

post it on my behalf . thanks .

 

 

The treatment of cows in India is in many ways worse than in the west

..cows are poorly fed , are subject to famine and drought , dont have

sufficient pasture , and are exposed to grazing infected with pesticide and

plastic garbage.while many families take affectionate care of their cows

practically none give them retirement benefits.(Normally the cow would

live for at least 20 years . Even if retirement benefits are given to

cows as some few people do , all males calves are sold as draught animals

where they have a lousy life for about 10 years and then as they go past their

prime are sold to the butchers.) .After the age of about 12 years when milk

yields begin to drop the cows are sold , they change two or three hands and

then the are put on the Death March . Due to laws in diff states

prohibiting slaughter, the cows actually suffer more .Either they are forced to

march often over a hundred km to a state where slaughter is allowed

,without sufficient water , or are piled into trucks where the often break

their legs due to crowding and injure each other with their horns . they are

not fed because that leads to them defecating at the slaughterhouse out of

stress and fear ,and then they are butchered by the most painful

halal way where they die a slow bleeding death. They are not stunned before

slaughter , since that is supposed to be against halal.

 

All these cows are bred only to supply the demand for milk in the

first place. over 200 million of them .Unlike the west India does not breed

cattle for beef . Sothe primary responsibility for the suffering of these

cows is with consumers of milk. Since the year 2000 India overtook the USA as

the world's largest producer of milk. Beef and leather are only by

products of the dairy industry just like goat leather is a by product of the

mutton industry .Incidentally cows belonging to temples in Tamilnadu under

the HR&CE dept are auctioned to butchers as soon as the milk yield begins

to drop. The prev HRCE minister told poeple who volunteered to adopt the

cows that " if you care about the cows so much , participate in the

auction and buy them." While it may be very difficult to give up milk and curds

suddenly ,

one can at least reduce it gradually .Milk is not necessary for adults . any

ordinary balanced diet is sufficient . With growing children also one

can avoid milk but the diet has to be more carefully framed so as not to

affect the growth of the child .Mammals produce milk for their own young ,

not to feed adults of another species.Some of the largest mammals like

elephants , hippos and rhinos are vegans , and gorillas and chimps are primarily

vegetarians . So one can get strong on a vegan diet too .Adult vegans

over 50 may however need to take some calcium pills if they give up milk ,

to be on the safe side.

 

regards to all

Bharath Asuri alias Asuri Venkatanarasimhan.