[nukkad] cows

["Dr T Vasudevan" <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  No chain letters, virus hoaxes and good luck charms. See
<http://www.kumite.com/myths/> for a list of Internet hoaxes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Sai wrote:
A.<As a side comment, nowhere in the Hindu scriptures do we have anything saying that people should NOT eat cows. At the most there is an indirect reference: cows are like one's mother. The indirect inference is that since one would not eat one's mother, so too one should not eat a cow.> 

Hindus do worship the cow especially on Fridays.
all the devathas are believed to reside in the cow, even specific places for them are mentioned.
for example Goddess Lakshmi reside in the rear of the cow on the left side. people do puja to lakshmi smearing sandle etc to the cow on this place.

B.<It is also a well known fact that Brahmins in the dim and distant past used to make animal sacrifices and also eat meat. These were reserved for religious occasions. If anyone can document facts otherwise, I will correct my views>
animal sacrifices are prescribed in the vedas themselves. it is stated that an animal involved in such a sacrifice obtains "swage" as well as the person doing it.
the commenest animal prescribed is the sheep and NOT COW. people who have done this have told me that either the animal fell dead when the mantras are recited ( in the distant past when people had the spiritual power) or its nose and mouth were held closed and  it will soon pass away surprisingly with out any struggle .

anyway the amount of meat eaten from the leftovers after the yagna was done is a very small amount the size of a pulse. it is a part of the yagna and not a feast after the yagna is over.

there is a legend :one appaiya dikshitar who observed the rituals very religiously and did so many yagnas had been refusing to do this particular kind. he would not believe the animal will gain swarga. the pundits assured him that he would be able to see it. he agreed to the yagna on the condition that unless he witnessed the animal going to swarga he will not proceed with the yagna. he did see it and continued to observe this yagna later.

there are cow sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas but the shastras have proscribed these in kali yuga . so they are not done. a confusion arises here as the Sanskrit word "pasu"  though referring to cow, is a general term used to refer to any animal.
2. re Muslims eating beef:
the economical reason may exist now . but the main reason was that when the moguls invaded in indulged in large scale conversion they found a unique problem. people who apparently convert were reverting the their original faith as soon as the mogul's back were turned. to ensure that they stayed in the Islamic faith they started insisting that the converts eat beef in front of them. it was made part of the ritual of conversion. now since the Hindu faith abhorred anyone who ate beef to return to Hindu faith as it was an "unpardonable crime", the purpose was served. hence the insistence to eat beef and prove their faith to Islam exists.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html