Why are cows sacred in India?

It tells the epic of the Ramayana, written in the 3rd century B.C. c. and one of the most important in India, that the ambitious king Vishmamitra coveted the magnificent cow owned by Vasishtha, a court sage. The cow, which was called Surabhi (or Kamadhenu according to other sources), was not only the most fabulous cattle, but also possessed magical qualities. Wondering, Vishmamitra stole the animal and took it with him.

Aware that both she and her owner were in danger, the cow Surabhi invoked her powers. magic to raise an army of powerful warriors, who clashed with the king's troops usurper. Finally, the greedy Vishmamitra was defeated and, repentant, he fled into the forest and became a holy man.

This legend is just one of the many testimonies to the importance of the cow in Indian culture. This importance goes far beyond mere traditions, and the cow stands as a true sacred animal, whose slaughtering and consumption of meat is currently prohibited or restricted in most of the states of India. Violation of these laws is penalized with very high fines and even years in prison in a large part of the territory.

Why are cows sacred in India? Join us on a journey in which we will analyze where this sacredness so characteristic of the country of the Indus Valley could have come from.

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Why are cows sacred in India?

The origin of this sacredness is lost in the darkness of time. The story we have narrated is not the only one in the Hindu mythological corpus that includes the connection of the cow with the sacred; we find multiple stories that include Surabhi, the magical cow, in their plot.

Surabhi, the cosmic cow

The legend of Prince Satyavrat is very significant. This character turned out to be so evil that his own father, the king, punished him with a twelve-year exile. Satyavrat wandered through the forest, hungry and desolate, during the years of his sentence.

In the end, the famine was so excruciating that the prince killed Surabhi, the sacred cow, to satisfy his enormous appetite, despite the fact that he was aware that he was committing a serious offense and that he would be punished for it. So it was. When the sage Vasishtha, the owner of the cow, found out about the sacrilege, he cursed Satyavrat and named him Trishanku, which means "the one with the three sins", alluding to the number of serious sins that the man had committed. the prince. Among them was, of course, the murder of Surabhi and the consumption of his sacred meat.

Surabhi is the cosmic cow of Hinduism. From the ocean of milk, a huge milky sea that the gods stirred up, appeared the sacred cow, also called Gau Mata. From then on, all the gods dwell in the body of this primordial cow.: on its horns is Brahma, the creator god, while, for example, on the forehead is Agni, the god of fire, and on the teats of the udders, Varuna.

This may be one of the reasons why the concept of sacredness regarding this animal appeared. If Surabhi (or Gau Mata) is the cosmic cow, the celestial body that shelters the divinities (whom it nourishes and protects), the cow it becomes an essential protective element for Hindu culture, so killing this animal becomes a sacrilege.

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Indo-European connections

However, the Hindu religion is not the only one that has to its credit the figure of the primordial cosmic cow. In fact, this element is present in practically all cultures that come from the ancient indoeuropeans. This is the case of Indian culture, but also of ancient Greek and Scandinavian.

It is not necessary to remember the abundance of Greek myths in which the cow appears. We can cite, for example, the kidnapping of Io by the always lustful Zeus, whom the god turns into a cow so that his wife Hera does not suspect him. But, above all, where we find a completely indisputable similarity with the Hindu story of the primeval cow is in the ancient Scandinavian mythology: in the beginning, the fusion of ice (Níflheim) with fire (Múspellheim) gave rise to Authumla or “Great Nurse”, the original cow whose udders flow 4 rivers of milk that, by the way, fed Ýmir, the giant from whose body it was created the world.

Even in peoples that have nothing to do with Indo-European culture, we find a strong devotion to the cow as a sacred animal.. In ancient Egypt, Nut, the goddess of the celestial vault, was often represented as a celestial cow, in a very clear relationship with the Hindu and Scandinavian cosmic cow. On the other hand, the goddess Hathor, protector of childbirth, motherhood and fertility, was personified as a woman with head of a cow or with a headdress of bovine horns, among which was often a moon, a feminine symbol from very ancient. In short, it is evident that the cow has been a very important animal in ancient religions, and not only in those of Indo-European origin. Perhaps the explanation can be found in the great importance that cattle had for the first agricultural communities, since they were the guarantor of their most immediate survival.

A cultural phenomenon with practical reasons?

It is not surprising that the cow is an essential element in the mythology of many peoples. We must bear in mind that, during the Bronze Age, when agriculture was consolidated and expanded, milk consumption was widespread. Animal milk was a guarantor of survival, since bad harvests could cause intense famines that could only be alleviated with the product obtained from cattle. Milk provides protein and vitamins in abundance, and its consumption could mean death or survival.

That is why, soon, the cow began to be seen as the universal nurse, the giver of life par excellence. A parallel was drawn between the cow that, through her milk-laden udders, nourishes starving humanity, like the mother who suckles her child. Thus, the cow also became a symbol of motherhood, protector of childbirth and human fertility. We have already commented how, in ancient Egypt, Hathor, the cow-goddess, was the lady who helped with the process of giving birth, so all women Egyptian women kept her in their prayers, not only with a view to having a good birth, but also to produce enough milk to raise their children. little ones.

It is quite possible that the sacredness of the cow in India is based on quite practical reasons. Many authors maintain that it was precisely the importance of this animal for survival that motivated the ban on its sacrifice to be imposed over the years. Milk is extracted from the cow, with which butter and other dairy products are produced, and killing the animal means destroying the food source.

Not only that; in india, cow products are used in many aspects of daily life. With bovine excrement, the necessary fertilizer is produced for the proper growth of the crops and, in addition, they are an important factor in the production of fuel. In many regions of India, especially in rural areas, cow dung is used for combustion in household kitchen stoves.

In this context, where everything that the cow produces becomes so important for daily survival, it is logical that the sacrifice of this cattle becomes something inconceivable, and it is also logical that its figure receives respect and worship.

The cow, an animal that was not always sacred

Or, rather, we could say "that was not always respected". Because in the sacred Hindu texts, the Vedas, we find certain contradictions in this regard. Although many of them speak of the consumption of beef as a taboo, others specify the importance of ritual slaughter and, related to this, the consumption of meat.

This apparent contradiction is explained by the evolution that the culture of India underwent over the millennia. We have already commented that the Indus culture comes from the Indo-European peoples, a series of human communities of common but uncertain origin that spread across the Indian subcontinent, part of Asia and, above all, Europe.

Historians of religions, among them the prestigious Mircea Eliade (1907-1986), have established that it is most probable that these peoples had a pantheon of an atmospheric type; in other words, they worshiped gods and goddesses related to natural phenomena (rain, wind, fire…). The gods of the Hindu pantheon would come from these ancestral gods, and also those of ancient Greek, Roman and Scandinavian mythologies.

The Hindus of the first Vedic period would have culturally vestiges of these Indo-Europeans and, therefore, their rituals would still be connected with those of the Indo-European culture. These rituals went through the sacrifice of animals to the gods (whose rites are described in the Vedas), that were located in open spaces (in view of these "atmospheric" gods) and accompanied by fire ritual.

Ritual sacrifice could be private or public. In the first case, it was carried out at the request of a "sacrificer" (the yajamana), and it was done on the domestic altar. The second case was much more expensive, since public sacrifices could last days or even months and, therefore, could only be sponsored by figures such as the king or wealthy families.

The parallelism with the Greek and Roman sacrificial rituals is more than evident. Let's not forget that these peoples have a common remote origin, the culture of the Indo-Europeans. Thus, the ancient inhabitants of the Indus Valley offered butter, meat and milk to the fire; the most precious thing they possessed went to the bosom of the gods in exchange for protection.

When did animal sacrifice begin to be seen as unclean? It is estimated that around the year 1000 AD, the veneration of the sacred cow was already fully extended in India, and the consumption of its meat had already become something prohibited. Perhaps the strong and gradual “interiorization” to which the old religion was subjected had something to do with all of this. Let us not forget that, from early dates, the practice of meditation was already widespread and, with it, the belief in the reincarnation of souls. AND, if a soul can reincarnate into any being, how can it be right to kill and consume meat?

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Indian culture and non-violence

Closely linked to all this is the culture of non-violence or ahimsa, which is found throughout the country and is the opposite of himsa, violence. This concept goes beyond peace between humans and extends to all creatures of creation.

In the formation of this idea so linked to the culture of India are Buddhism and Jainism, two of the most important religions in addition to Hinduism. In fact, one of the main guidelines of Jainism is ahimsa; in it Acaranga Sutra, one of his most important texts, it is said that everything that breathes (and, therefore, that lives), should not be killed or mistreated.

In Hinduism, we find mention of ahimsa in the Upanishads (800 B.C. C.), precisely at the time when this philosophy of non-violence was being forged and the Vedic-Indo-European ritual sacrifice was definitely left behind. In a context where all living beings must be respected, there is, of course, no room for the consumption of animal meat.

One of the greatest promoters of ahimsa was Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), who introduced this philosophy to the West. The hippie movement of the 60s picked it up with real vigor and, later, ahimsa influenced the formation of currents that defended nature and animals.