So last night, I was explaining to my flat-mate, the concept of Paneer. In the end, she asked if we use Goat milk to make Paneer as Cow is supposed to be sacred and all.
I explained to her the concept of Cow being sacred: Cow gives us milk and hence is equivalent to our mother. You can’t kill your mother and hence the whole sacred concept (at least that’s how I understand it!). Having said that, I had to add that I don’t understand why Buffaloes, Goats or Camels are not sacred as they also give us milk. What did Cow do to deserve such a privilege?
But then, I didn’t make the rules. I don’t follow them either but hey, that’s another story.
P.S.: On a side note, I grew up on Buffalo’s milk. My brother used to quote that as the reason for the way I turned out to be: Dark and fat. Brothers and their sense of humor! Hmph.
Just FYI, my brother is just a shade lighter than I and hence for all worldly purpose, he is also considered dark. And with age, he has gained a very rotund tummy (he used to be athletic during his younger years). Even though I am a complete angel compared to him, even I can’t resist teasing him for the football he carries around now. :P
Hmm, my understanding of why Hindus don't eat the cow was because the cow has something to do with Krishna. The whole god connection. FYI, I started eating beef upon coming here...something which shocked some of my friends back in India (but not my parents, funnily enough). I'm not that much in tune with Hinduism anyway.
ReplyDeleteHey, you forgot the Lakshmi angle to all this! Do you know it is believed she lives in cow dung ? - NO LAUGHING, that's sacrilege :o) !
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's just not the milk but for the panchagavya she's regarded a celebrity :)
Ah, all that listening to endless tales when growing up has it's own side effects I see...
Nice food for thought! I never thought about camel, goat etc not being considered sacred.
ReplyDeleteI guess apart from giving milk, cow has some connection with mythology and it has God status. Thats my understanding... ;)
Ohhh..I didn't know that. My Grandparents emphasized on Go-Mata part and never mentioned anything regarding Krishan. Or may be it's a north-Indian myth..
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't like the texture of beef. Its too hard and chewy. I like pork and duck (I actually love duck!) but my stupid sensitive stomach can't digest it. :( I know what you mean about the reaction of friends.
When I went to a BBQ for the first time here, I accidentally ate beef (I didn't know how to differentiate between different types of meat back then). Anyway, I mailed my parents about their views about eating Beef. My dad mailed me long email saying that I should try all kinds of food and eat whatever I like. But he also asked me to not mention this fact among our relatives. So I don't. :)
Okay, I didn't know that. My parents/grand-parents never mentioned this part of the myth either..or may be I simply missed that part (I am considering selective amnesia as an excuse now!)
ReplyDeleteIts good to know..:)
Oh well! In either case (see comments above), I think all the rest of farm animals are as useful (if not more) as a cow and should be treated equally. I think I will start an animal equality forum soon :P
ReplyDeleteLol! That's a smart thing about not mentioning it among relatives...I didn't do that either! :p Oh I ate duck for the first time in October last year and really enjoyed it! I think the first time I ate beef was at a BBQ as well...at uni and it was free...and since I had just come to Aus and hadn't found a part-time job, any food that was free was great! :p
ReplyDeleteLol...animal equality. That would be veganism wouldn't it?? Just wondering...
ReplyDeletehmm.......let me tell you a story.......once i was checking out prank video's on call center rep's(i have that fascination cause i have worked as one and never got prank calls :( .... )
ReplyDeletemoving on......the video i saw....the guy, of-course American......was abusing the Indian Rep and saying "You *#*#*@@! cow worshiping Indians" .......then it struck to me....really why do we do that......?????
But then i thought.....is it because we had cows as pets ?? cause my farmer grandfather grew old and healthy because of their pet.....?????
see i didn't find the perfect answer .......but i satisfy myself by believing because i never had a pet cow which used to bring food and money .........i wouldn't understand................as our generation won't understand cause we were not there.......... we don't eat dog's or cat's meat.......atleast i don't .......cause i have always seen them as pets..........
on the other hand.....if there is one roasted piece of meat lying in front of me.......and nobody tells me what it is........... there are chances i'll like......it.....no matter it was cow or even another human......
wow......this was really long.....i could have posted it and got myself a new blog post....
:)
anyways..... Happy Weekend........\,,/
hey.....liked it and promoted it.....
ReplyDeleteOhh I know all about the free food! Track down every time I am running down on cash. :P
ReplyDeleteNO! I am not joining PETA! I simply want buffaloes, goats and camels to be given same status as the Cow! So may be in few days you might hear phrases like "Holy Buffalo", "Holy Goat" or "Holy Camel" :D
ReplyDeleteHmm..interesting idea! However, shouldn't the same apply to chickens and lambs (or any other farm animal) as it's pretty normal for meat eaters in India to eat them. The idea of pets should apply to then too, right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for promoting the post!
see that's why i don't like to think much about it..... :)
ReplyDeletewaah waaahhh... kyaa baat hai..??
ReplyDeletewattaaann explanation sirjee :P
//why Buffaloes, Goats or Camels are not sacred as they also give us milk. What did Cow do to deserve such a privilege?
good question next one please :P
//Brothers and their sense of humor! Hmph.//
rofl... someone feelin down down eh ;)
Hey theres a whole lot of history for cow being so sacred. Me too, like man others aways thought of the religious notions given to me about the "Sacred cow", as its like our mother cos it gives us milk, its associated with lord krishna, its associated with lord lakshmi, story of Kamadhenu, etc., until, i read a book "Indian food" by Achaya, it was a quite interesting book which details the history of our food, rather than recipes. Thats when i came to know, that during vedic period, Brahmins used to sacrifice animals in temples and all ate them, with the best parts going to the Brahmins, as they r d uppercaste. The book details the reason for terming cows Holy, as for all Hindu rituals, its the cows products that r used - milk, yoghurt, cow dung, urine and even whole cow in certain rituals like grahapravesh, etc., more slaughtering of cow for food, lead to shortage of these products, so the Vedic period Brahmins made the coe holy and banned eating cow meat, with other animals still scarificed and enjoyed as a meal.......it was with the emergence of Jainism and Budhism, that the Brahmins so called Uppercaste status came to a blow, that they started preaching non violence, stopped animal sacrifices and turned vegetarians........
ReplyDeleteSo, more than anyhing else, i think it was d need of cows products for the rituals, that have forced it to b termed Holy, milleniums ago........
Okay! Now my cause and effects are twisted. I thought they used all those things in Puja because Cow was Holy and not the other way around. SO why did they used all those things in Puja in the first place? Why use only cow's milk or dung or urine or whatever and not the same things from other animals, say a goat or a buffalo?
ReplyDeleteNote that I am not taking about how and when eating beef started but how and when cow became sacred?
Shukriya, Shukriya Mohtarma! :)
ReplyDeleteGood approach! But my empty mind keeps asking all these questions..
ReplyDeleteThats one way of looking at it, but its man who made the religion and he made it based on the place he lived and the things that were there around him at that period and this didnt happened overnight, as its a continuous process over several years.....
ReplyDeleteCow is termed holy bcause of its products(milk, yoghurt, ghee, butter, dung, etc.,) that man could use, as no other animal's milk produces so varied products.....and the availability of cow, the ease with which it could be domesticated, and its products all added up, i guess. And when al the religious practices and customs were developed, i think they would have thought of keeping it simple and use the easily available products from that period of time, namely cow milk and its products, paddy, turmeric (in south), banana plant & products (mostly in south), flowers, etc.,
Aryans would have noticed the dravidians using cow dung to protect their mud houses and flooring from insect infestations and started using cow dung for sanitising purposes in most of the rituals.
Though much of this is hypothetical, as it will be difficult to find answers to questions with regards to religion and religious practices, as questioning religious beliefs were and still considered a BIG SIN in our society.........
Lol okay! =) That's fine then...
ReplyDelete