| COWS ARE SACRED
From the Mahabharata,
Anusasana Parva,
Sections LXXXIII - LXXVII - LXXVI Bhishma said: No
sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds and
ghee (clarified butter).
The very character of sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence
ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice. Cows
have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They
represent sacrifice itself.
Without them, there can be no
sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced
therefrom,
they uphold all creatures by diverse acts. Cows are guileless in
their behaviour. From them flow sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds
and ghee. hence cows are sacred. Afflicted by hunger and thirst, they bear
diverse burdens.
Cows support the Munis (sages). Among all objects mobile
and immobile, the mobile are
superior. Among mobile creatures Brahmanas are
superior. The sacrifices are all established upon them. It is by sacrifice
that Soma (nectar) is got. Sacrifice has been established upon cows. ( For without
ghee or clarified butter, which is produced from milk, there can be no sacrifice).
The gods become gratified through sacrifices. It is from the cows that the means
have flowed of the sustenance of all the worlds. They yield Soma (nectar) in the
form of milk. Cows are auspicious and sacred, and grantor of every wish and
givers
of life. They who make gifts of cows, and who subsist upon the
remnants
of things offered as libations on the sacred fire,
are regarded, as always
performing sacrifices of every kind. Of all kinds of gifts, the gift of
cows is applauded as the
highest. Cows are the foremost of all things. Themselves
sacred, they are the best of cleansers and sanctifiers.
People should
cherish cows for obtaining prosperity and
even peace. Cows are said to represent
the highest energy both in this world and the world that is above. There is nothing
that is more sacred or sanctifying than cows. One should never feel any
repugnance for the urine and the dung of the cow. [Note: The following
comments are by the scholar and translator of The Mahabharata Sri Kisari Mohan
Ganguli: The Rishis (ascetic seers) discovered that the magnetism of the cow is
something that is possessed of extraordinary virtues. Give the same kind of food
to a cow and to a horse. The horse-dung emits an unhealthy stench, while the cow-dung
is an efficacious disinfectant. There can be little doubt that the urine and dung
of the cow possess untold virtues.] Vyasa said: Cows are sacred. They
are embodiments of merit. They are high and most efficacious cleansers of all. One
should for three days drink the hot urine of the cow.
For the next three days
one should drink the hot milk of the
cow. Having thus drunk for three days
hot milk, one should
next drink hot ghee for three days. Having in this way
drunk
hot ghee for three days, one should subsist for the next three days
on air only.
Vasishtha said:
By bathing in water mixed with cow-dung,
people shall
become sanctified. The deities and men, shall use cow-dung for
the purpose of purifying all creatures mobile and immobile. One can sit on dried
cow dung. One should never eat the flesh of cows. One should never show
any disregard for cows in any way.
If evil dreams are seen, men should take
the names of cows.
One should never obstruct cows in any way. Cows are the
mothers of both the Past and the Future. Cows have become the refuge of the
world. It is for this that cows are said to be highly blessed, sacred, and the
foremost of all things. It is for this that cows are said to stay at the very
head of all creatures. Every morning, people should bow with reverence unto cows.
Cows are the best Havi for the deities. The Mantras called
Swaha and
Vashat are forever established in cows.
Sacrifices are established in the
cows. Cows constitute the fruit of sacrifices.Cows are the future and the past,
and
Sacrifices rest on them. Morning and evening cows yield
unto the Rishis,
Havi for use in Homa (sacred fire ceremony). Cows are always fragrant.
The perfume emanated by the
exudation of the Amytis agallochum issues out
of their bodies.Cows are the great refuge of all creatures. Cows constitute the
great source of blessing unto all. (Swastayana is a ceremony of propitiation,
productive of blessing and destructive of misery of every kind). Cows are the
source of eternal growth. Cows are sacred. They are the foremost of all
things in the
world. They are verily the refuge of the universe. They are
the mothers of the very deities. They are verily incomparable.
Cows are
the mothers of the universe.* There is no gift
more sacred than the gift of
cows. There is no gift that
produces more blessed merit. Vyasa said: Cows
constitute the stay of all creatures. Cows are the
refuge of all creatures.
Cows are the embodiment of merit.
Cows are sacred and blessed and are sanctifiers
of all. One should never, in even one's heart, do an injury to cows. One
should, indeed, always confer happiness on them. Living in a pure state,
in the midst of cows, one should
mentally recite those sacred Mantras that
are known by the
name of Gomati, after touching pure water. By doing this,
one becomes purified and cleansed. Brahmanas of
righteous deeds, who have
been cleansed by the knowledge, study of the Vedas, and observance of vows, should,
only in the midst of sacred fires or cows or assemblies of Brahmanas, impart unto
their disciples a knowledge of the Gomati Mantras which are every way like unto
a sacrifice (for the merit they produce). One should observe a fast for three
nights for receiving the boon constituted by a knowledge of the import of the
Gomati Mantras. The man who is desirous of obtaining a son may obtain one
by adoring these Mantras. He who desires the possession of wealth may have his
desire gratified by adoring these Mantras. The girl desirous of having a
good husband may have her
wish fulfilled by the same means. In fact, one may
acquire
the fruition of every wish one may cherish, by adoring
these sacred
Mantras. When cows are gratified with the
service one renders them, they are,
without doubt, capable
of granting the fruition of every wish. Even so, cows
are
highly blessed. They are the essential requisites of
sacrifices. They
are grantors of every wish. Know that
there is nothing superior to cows. Cows
are endued with the elements of strength and energetic exertion. Cows have in
them the elements of wisdom. They are the source of that immortality which sacrifice
achieves. They are the refuge of all energy. They are the steps by which
earthly prosperity is won. They constitute the eternal course of the universe.
They lead to the extension of one's race. Bhishma said: One should
not, by imparting a knowledge of this ritual, benefit a person that is not one's
disciple or that is not observant of vows or that is bereft of faith or that is
possessed of a crooked understanding. Verily, this religion is a mystery, unknown
to most people. One that knows it should not speak of it at every place. There
are, in the world, many men that are bereft of faith. There are among men many
persons that are mean and that resemble Rakshasas. This religion, if imparted
unto them, would lead to evil. It would be productive of equal evil if imparted
to such sinful men as have taken shelter in atheism. _____________________________________ *
( "Cows are the mothers of the universe." )
The human infant
is fed breast milk by its human mother for under three years. After weaning, the
cow acts as the surrogate mother providing milk for the rest of the human life
- through childhood, adult age and old age. Cow is verily the mother of the world.
One would be filled with repugnance at the ungrateful idea of killing mother,
whether surrogate mother or otherwise.).
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