Holy Cow! An Oxford PhD's View

[Guest guest]

Holy Cow!

By Radhika Ramana Dasa

PhD from Oxford University.

 

The sacred cow holds a special place in Hindu art

Holy cow! I'm sure you've heard this phrase before, when people

express disbelief at something amazing or unusual.

Well, the fact is that Hindus do believe that cows are holy. The

sacred cow is one of the enduring images of Hinduism. Every year,

Hindus set aside a day to decorate and worship their cows. All over

the world, Hindus abstain from eating meat, especially beef. Why do

Hindus worship cows? What makes these simple animals so special?

 

Whenever I visit India, I stay for several days at my grandfather's

house in Allahabad. Like many well-to-do families in India,

grandfather raises a cow in the courtyard of his house. He rises

early in the morning to feed the cow, give her water, and clean her

shed. Every day the family gets wholesome milk, thick cream, and

fresh butter. And during the day, a cowherd boy takes the animal to

graze in the fields.

 

Because the cow gives valuable nourishment in the form of milk, she

is loved and respected by Hindus like a mother. According to the

Vedas, India's ancient books of knowledge, there are seven mothers:

the earth, the cow, the queen, the nurse, the teacher, the wife of

the brahmin, and the natural mother. Almost every child grows up

drinking cow's milk; therefore the cow is considered to be a mother.

In the same way, the bull—who ploughs the field and grows food—is

considered a father.

 

Like a true mother, the cow's work is selfless. She eats what is

useless to humans—grass, hay, and straw—and turns it into something

nutritious and tasty—milk. Even the cow's dung is valuable: it is

used as fertiliser, as a source of natural fuel, and as an

antiseptic. The father and mother should be respected and loved—

certainly not killed or eaten. Hindus are grateful for the services

of the cow and bull, and so they hold them sacred.

 

The sacred cow holds a special place in Hindu art, literature, and

scripture. When God himself came to earth as Krishna five thousand

years ago, he played the role of a cowherd boy. He was known as

Gopala, the protector of cows.

 

But Hindus' gratefulness for the gifts of nature extends far beyond

cows, to a respect for all life. Hindus realise that when we receive

a gift of love, we must also return that gift with love. This sense

of gratefulness and respect for nature is something we can all learn

from the Hindu way of life.

 

Radhika Ramana Dasa