Millions of devout Hindus and followers of Vedic scriptures want ban on cow slaughter, especially in India. But if ban on cow slaughter happens across the world, then it would be great. Cow is not just any other animal in India. She is sacred for most of the Indians, so many Indians worship cow. Vedic scriptures glorify cow. Holy Vedas say that we have seven mothers and one of them is a cow.
Cow is one of the seven mothers
ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī
brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā
dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī
saptaitā mātaraḥ smṛtāḥ
“The seven mothers are: (1) the real mother, (2) the wife of the spiritual master, (3) the wife of a brāhmaṇa, (4) the wife of the king, (5) the cow, (6) the nurse, and (7) the earth.” https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/12/8/
So, people in India especially Hindus call cow as mother cow and worship her. Many devout Hindus voluntarily open goshalas, cow shelter homes, where they selflessly take care of the cows.
But for people of other faiths like Muslims and Christians, cow is just like any other animal. So, they do not subscribe to the viewpoints of the Hindus that there should be ban on cow slaughter.
Hindus & Muslims on cow slaughter
So, many times in India, Hindus and especially Muslims are at loggerheads with each other. For Hindus cow is sacred but for Muslims it is not. So, some sections of Muslims want the right to kill and eat cows’ flesh, but Hindus want that the cows should not be slaughtered. Left liberal intellectuals known for loathing Vedic tradition and culture gleefully advocate the killing of holy cows.
Amidst all this cacophony the sufferer is the poor cow. Cow eats raw grass which is provided abundantly by nature and converts it into milk. Now there would not be any individual who would deny the fact that they have been nourished by cow’s milk and milk products.
Cow serves us selflessly just like our noble mother who throughout her life serves us without any expectations. So, the Vedic literature asks us to treat cow as our mother. It also asks us to protect cows and care for her just like a child is expected to take care of his mother.
Purpose behind cow protection
In Bhagavad-gita (18.44), Lord Krishna talks about cow protection : kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vaṇijyaṁ vaisya-karma svabhava jam. Krishna is even called Gopal and Govinda. Gopal means one who takes care of cows and Govinda means one who gives pleasure to the cows.
Now why the Vedas give emphasis to serve the cows and not any other animal. To understand this let us understand the purpose of the holy book. The purpose of sacred Vedas is to help us gradually elevate our consciousness. And so, the holy book assert that as humans we should try to cultivate a sense of gratitude towards those who serves us and care for us.
Since mother cow serves us by giving milk so we should take care of her. Ideally, we should have loving attitude towards all the children of God including animals and plants but at least we have to begin somewhere. Once we start developing compassion and gratitude for cows then slowly, we will reach a stage where our heart will be filled with love and compassion for all.
A person’s greatness is not measured by how cruel he is. If this would have been the criteria then likes of Hitler and Aurangzeb would have been eulogized today. It is the character of compassions which makes a person really human. And all the bona fide religions of the world speak the language of peace, brotherhood and most importantly tolerance. Because there can be no peace without tolerance.
Story of the Sage and the scorpion
A sage was taking bath in a river. He saw a scorpion drowning. He picked the scorpion to save its life but the scorpion bit him and fell into the river. The sage immediately took the scorpion in his hand to save its life. But it bit him again and fell into the river. The sage again took it out of the water. But the scorpion bit him again and fell into the water. A person who was observing all this was shocked. He thought the sage is insane. So, he asked, “Why don’t you let it die? He is not responding to your generosity”. The sage said, “Scorpion’s character is to bite others and put them in pain. But the dharma of a sage is to protect all and show compassion to all. The scorpion is not ready to give up his nature so why should I?”
Hindus and Muslims have to decide whether they want to be like a scorpion troubling & biting each other or like a sage loving and caring each other. Muslims will not become lesser Muslims by respecting the religious beliefs of the Hindus and Hindus will not become lesser Hindus by respecting the beliefs of the Muslims.
Eating cow flesh is not mandatory for Muslims or Christians or people of any other faith
Killing cows and eating her flesh is not mandatory or part of the religious practice of Muslims. Cow killing is not compulsory even for Christians or people of any other religion. There is no glory in killing cows and eating her flesh.
Many noble Muslims also support ban on cow slaughter in India. Many have voluntarily given it up.
Leftist scholars try to vitiate religious harmony in India
Hindus and Muslims even try to get along with each other. But in India there is certain class of people who masquerade as intellectuals and these so called intellectuals do not allow both the communities to live peacefully. These left leaning intellectuals always try to demean Hindus religious beliefs. They play a vicious role in fomenting trouble between Hindus and Muslims. They instigate the Muslims against Hindus.
Muslims should understand that these left liberals are not their well-wisher but in fact are their enemies. If Hindus and Muslims fight then they both suffer. So, it is important that these two communities should accept, respect and tolerate their religious differences.
They should not provoke each other and also not get provoked. Sometimes emotionally surcharged statements like “I love eating beef” or “Muslims will be punished for eating beef” are made. These types of statements vitiate the social fabric of India.
Respect the sentiments of Hindus by supporting ban on cow slaughter
We should create a violence free society where there is no bloodshed, where Hindus & Muslims live together peacefully without hurting and humiliating each other and without killing or maiming each other. Not just Muslims but even Christians and people of other faith should respect the religious sentiment of the Hindus and should support ban on cow slaughter.
Muslims brothers and sisters and Christian brothers and sisters should understand that for Hindus cows are extremely sacred. Hindus worship cows. Lord Krishna is a lover of cows. So, they should also accept cow as mother and should advocate complete ban on cow slaughter in India.
