The Cow Is A Very Important Animal - The Pillar of Civilization
Modern society often views the cow as simply a source of meat, indistinguishable from a pig or a goat. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda argues that the cow is distinct and superior to all other animals. She is the "most important animal" because she sustains human civilization. Through her milk, she acts as a mother, and through the labor of the bull, the fields are tilled to produce grain. To kill such a beneficial creature is not only sinful but suicidal for human society.
Economic and Nutritional Necessity
The importance of the cow is first and foremost economic and nutritional. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that the cow produces a "miracle food"—milk. From milk, we can prepare yogurt, ghee, cheese, and sweets, which provide all the necessary vitamins and strength for the human body. The bull, in turn, is the father of grains, helping to plow the fields. Therefore, the cow and bull are the parents of human sustenance.
- Cows are the most important animal because they produce the miracle food, milk, from which we can prepare ghee and yogurt.
- The cow is very, very important animal. If you want to advance your spiritual consciousness, then you must have sufficient milk and sufficient grains. That is civilization. Therefore it is the duty of the vaisyas to produce food grain.
- Both the bulls and the cows are important because the bull will produce food grain and the cow will give supply milk. They should be utilized properly. That is human intelligence.
Beyond Religious Sentiment
Critics often claim that cow protection is merely a religious sentiment of the Hindus. Śrīla Prabhupāda refutes this, arguing that the cow's importance is a scientific fact. He notes that even the waste products of the cow—stool and urine—are valuable. Cow dung is a first-class antiseptic and fuel, and cow urine is used in Ayurvedic medicine. If an animal is so important that even its waste is worshipable, how can we justify killing it?
- Cow urine and cow dung are uncontaminated, and since even the urine and dung of a cow are important, we can just imagine how important this animal is for human civilization.
- Cow is very important animal. You get from its milk so many nutritious food. So apart from religious sentiment, from economic point of view cow-killing is not good.
- Ultimately, we need to protect the cow to derive the highest benefit from this important animal. The protection of cows, therefore, is not merely a religious sentiment but a means to secure the highest benefit for human society.
The Prohibition on Cow Killing
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that while the Vedic scriptures restrict meat-eating, they do make allowances for those who cannot give it up. Such persons are advised to eat "non-important" animals like goats, pigs, or even dogs. However, the cow is specifically protected (go-rakṣya). Killing the cow, who provides the essential milk for brain development, is considered a gross act of ingratitude and a barrier to spiritual progress.
- If you are at all meat-eater, you can eat pigs, goats, but don't eat cow's flesh. That is very sinful. Why it is sinful? Because it's a very, very important animal in the human society.
- Those who are meat-eaters, they can eat other, non-important animals, but cows must be saved, even from economic point of view. Here it is said that go-raksya. It does not say, Krsna, "elephant-raksya."
- Cow is specially recommended, go-raksya, because very important animal to the society. If those who are meat-eaters, they can eat the hogs and dogs, they can eat. The Vedic injunction is not prohibiting them.
The Duty of the State
In a civilized society, the government must protect the innocent. Mahārāja Parīkṣit, a great Vedic king, was ready to kill a man simply for beating a cow. He recognized that the cow is as important as a citizen. It is the specific duty of the vaiśyas (mercantile class) to protect cows, and the duty of the kṣatriyas (administrators) to ensure that no one harms them.
- The king cannot tolerate insults to the most important animal, the cow, nor can he tolerate disrespect for the most important man, the brahmana.
- Vasudeva was a ksatriya, and Nanda Maharaja was a vaisya. It is the duty of the ksatriyas to give protection to the citizens, and it is the duty of the vaisyas to give protection to the cows. The cows are as important as the citizens.
- The human society, therefore, maintains these two (the bull and the cow) important animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness.
Conclusion
The cow is not just an animal; she is a mother to human society. By providing milk, she nurtures the brain cells required for understanding God. By plowing the fields, her son, the bull, feeds the population. To ignore the importance of the cow is to ignore the very basis of a peaceful and prosperous civilization. Protecting the cow is not a religious dogma but a necessary step for the survival and spiritual upliftment of humanity.
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