COW PROTECTION IN SCRIPTURES
There are 7 mothers listed in Hindhu scriptures and faith.
They are…
'adau mata guru-patni, brahmani raja-patnika dhenur dhatri
tatha prthvi saptaita matarah' Meaning:
Real mother & Guru-patni, the wife of spiritual
master or teacher. Brahmani, the wife of a brahmana,
and Raja-patnika, the queen. Dhenu, the cow, Dhatri, nurse, as
well as theEarth. Earth is mother because she gives us so many things like
fruits, flowers, grains for our eating. Mother gives milk & food for
eating. Cow gives us milk. So cow is also one of our mothers.
SRIMAD BHAGVAD GITA:
Dhenunam asmi kamadhuk -- Among cows I am
the wish fulfilling (kamdhenu or surabhi) cow. (Verse 10.28).
SRI CHAITANYA
CHARITAMRITA, Adilila, Chapter 17, verse 166,
Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms:
o-ange yata loma tata sahasra vatsara go-vadhi
raurava-madhye pace nirantar
Cow killers and cow eaters are condemned to rot in hell for as
many thousands of years as there are for each hair on the body of every cow
they eat from.
It is further written - Those who fail to give cows
reverence and protection and choose to foolishly oppose and whimsically ignore
the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures by selling a cow for slaughter, by
killing a cow, by eating cows flesh and by permittings the slaughter of cows
will all rot in the darkest regions of hell for as many thousands of years as
there are hairs on the body of each cow slain. There is no atonement for the
killing of a cow.
MANU SAMHITA, chapter 4, verse 162 :
§ A guru, a teacher, a
father, a mother, a brahmana, a cow and a yogi all should never be killed.
§ धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः - मनु कहते हैं- जो धर्म की रक्षा करता है धर्म उसकी रक्षा करता है । सत्य से धर्म की रक्षा होती है ।
Shri Brahm Samhita 5.29 :
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu
surabhir abhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaḿ govindam ādi-
puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor
who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual
gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great
reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.
SHRI RAMCHARITMANAS
Vedas & Devatas in their prayer Jai Jai Surnayak describe
the lord as " Go Dvij Hitkari (protector of cows & Brahmins) Jai
Asurari (Death for Wrongdoers) "
MAHABHARATA:
§ Anusasana-parva,
115.43 -116.45: That wretch among men who pretending to follow the path
of righteousness prescribed in the Vedas, would kill living creatures from
greed of flesh would certainly go to hellish regions.
§ Anusasana-parva,
114.6, 115.6 it states: As the footprints of all moving, living
beings are engulfed in those of the elephant, even thus all religions are to be
understood by ahimsa which is non-violence to any living being by
thought, words or actions.
गवां मूत्रपुरीषस्य नोद्विजेत कथंचन । न चासां मांसमश्नीयाद्गवां पुष्टिं तथाप्नुयात् ॥ (Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva 78-17)
Do not hesitate to consume cow urine and cow dung – they are
sacred. But one should never eat the cow meat. A person becomes stronger by
consuming Panchagavya.
गावो ममाग्रतो नित्यं गावः पृष्ठत एव च । गावो मे सर्वतश्चैव गवां मध्ये वसाह्यहम् ॥ (Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva 80-3)
Let there be cows in front of me, behind me and all around me. I
live with the cows.
दानानामपि सर्वेषां गवां दानं प्रशस्यते । गावः श्रेष्ठाः पवित्राश्च पावनं ह्येतदुत्तमम् ॥ (Mahabharata, Anushasana
Parva 83-3)
Donation of cows is superior to all others. Cows are supreme and
sacred.
SCRIPTURES OF PAGANISM
Classical paganism had many illustrious vegetarians who were
outspoken on the subject. Such figures as Ovid, Appolonius of Tyana, Plutarch,
Plotinus, and Porphyry were all vegetarians who also identified themselves with
classical paganism.
Plutarch's essay:
On Eating of Flesh is still quoted by vegetarians
today. Porphyry, living several hundred years later, wrote the
earliest surviving book- length treatment of vegetarianism, On
Abstinence from Animal Food, where he forthrightly deals with the
moral worth of animals, the natural repugnance of humans to animal flesh, and
the effects of meat-eating on health.
Many modern neo-pagans are vegetarians as well, as is evident
from looking at modern neo-pagan literature. They quote the Pagan Federation
principles in support of their vegetarianism: Do what you will, but harm
none.'
