Cattle are considered sacred in world religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and others. Earlier religions in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Israel and Ancient Rome held similar beliefs.
Due to the multiple benefits from cattle, there are varying beliefs about cattle in societies and religions. In some regions, especially Nepal and some states in India, the slaughter of cattle is prohibited and their meat may be taboo.
In Hinduism[edit]
Origins[edit]
The cow has been a symbol of wealth since ancient days. However, they were neither inviolable nor revered in the same way they are today.[1][2]
The cow was possibly revered because Hindus relied heavily on it for dairy products and for tilling the fields, and on cow dung as a source of fuel and fertilizer. Thus, the cow’s status as a 'caretaker' led to identifying it as an almost maternal figure (hence the termgau mata). In the olden days cattle being limited to select few fortunate folks, the cows enjoyed the status that gold or money enjoys today. In addition, it has been suggested by author and orator Terence McKenna that religious reverence for the cow is a result of early humankind's association of psilocybin mushroom with it, this association having developed as a result of the discovery of said mushrooms in the animal's excrement.[3]
Hinduism is based on the concept of omnipresence of the Divine and the presence of a soul in all creatures, including bovines. Thus, by that definition, killing any animal would be a sin: One would be obstructing the natural cycle of birth and death of that creature, and the creature would have to be reborn in that same form because of its unnatural death. Krishna, one of the incarnations of god in Hindu mythology (Avatar), tended cows. The cow and bull represent the symbol of Dharma. Reverence for cows and bulls is in the major texts of the Vedic religion.[4]
In South India and some parts of Sri Lanka, a cattle festival is celebrated. It is called as Mattu Pongal.
Sanskrit term[edit]
The most common word for cow is go, cognate with the English cow and Latin bos, all from Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) cognates *gwous. The Sanskrit word for cattle is paśu, from PIE *peḱu-. Other terms are dhenu cow and uks ox.
Milk cows are also called aghnya "that which may not be slaughtered".[5] Depending on the interpretation of terminology used for a cow, the cow may have been protected.
The cow in the Hindu scriptures[edit]
- Rig Veda