The Importance of Cow Protection in Hinduism
"The very name for a cow in Sanskrit is 'Aghnya' which is translated
as "not to be killed", an indication that they should never be
slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely one who kills a cow a
bull commits a heinous crime". Mahabharat, Shantiparv 262.47
There are many reasons why Hindus do not wish to have beef as a source
of food, one of them being their religious beliefs. Many Hindus in the
whole world don't believe in eating beef as it involves the
slaughtering of the most sacred animal in Hinduism.They are influenced
by themselves of others (parents, family, friends).
Hinduism states that there should be no violence and that Ahimsa
should be carried out in as many places as possible. Ahimsa means
"non-violence".
In India there are thousands of cows that walk the street freely owing
to the law that states they shouldn't be harmed physically by any
human and that they should have the right to freedom just as we do.
Moreover the written law has only been carried out recently, but the
acts has been carried out for many thousands of years. Generations
amongst generations have taught their young this. Respect for the
environment is considered to be a religious duty in the Hindu
scriptures, as it is believed that a cow was the means of transport
for one very powerful god..
Hindus also don't eat meat (or beef) as many products tend to attach
themselves to diseases e.g. Foot in mouth or mad cow disease (BCE).
Caused by various viruses. Thousands of people have died in the past
few years because of these diseases, but as many Hindus believe that
killing cows is wrong - they have not been effected.
Vegetarianism is a common thing in many Hindu societies, as the first
three casts tend to apply the rules the most. Brahmins especially do
not have meat, they have to preserve their rights as being very
religious. There are certain types of comestibles that are healthy to
In his book “Cattle Brings Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe does a 16-year stint in East Africa, specifically in Northern Kenya, doing research on the Turkana. He does this through STEP, the South Turkana Ecosystem Project. In “Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe follows four families through his years in Kenya and notes how they live in a very demanding environment. He uses ecological data to analyze how and why the Turkana people make decisions about their everyday life. McCabe focuses on four main areas of study: how the Turkana survive and adapt to a stressful environment by nomadic pastoralism, how the techniques used to extract resources and manage livestock modify the environment, the effects of the environmental and cultural practices have on
According to Hinduism, the religion most common in this country, believe that killing animals is inhumane and is unfair to the creature, thus there are not many meats that available for the people, except in some certain areas. Despite this fact, meat alternatives are very popular in India for these people being able to get protein and healthy fats while still being able to follow the guidelines of their religion. The prices of lentils, especially are cheap there as many poor and middle class families rely on these types of foods. Some examples of these types of lentils or culturally known as, daal, are moong, urad, masoor, and chana daal. Moreover, India is one of the major importers of lentils from Canada surprisingly, spending on average $1.1 billion dollars. As this Asian nation is already drowned in substantial amounts of debt, having many of its citizens buying all the lentils can ensure them that they are making profit of these foods. Thus, through the food guide, they want to encourage Indians to continue to buy this item buy making the protein a section of the food guide, rather than nothing or a very small portion. Moving on, in Canada, meat and alternatives are a small portion of the food guide because an individual does not need a lot of it to maintain a healthy body. Also, in many western countries like Canada, fast food meals have become very popular and are being eaten in enormous quantities, raising the number of obese, diabetic and individuals with heart related problems. Therefore, in the food guide it addresses Canadians to have small servings of meat when cooking themselves, to ensure that none or merely a few people are overeating
Mad cow disease is caused by prions, "weird mutant proteins that are found in brain and spinal tissue"1. Another name for mad cow disease is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the definition is "a progressive neurological disorder of cattle that results from infection by an unusual transmissible agent called a prion"2. It started from what is called a prion protein then it turned into a pathogenic, and then it starts to damaged the brain of a cattle. There's another name for this disease and it's called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease "a form of progressive dementia characterized by loss of nerve cells and degeneration of nerve cell membranes leading to the production of small holes in the brain. It is rare, degenerative, and invariably fatal"3. This disease happen in human causing lapses in the memory, mood swings similar to depression, lack of interest and social withdrawal3. It is said that this disease has no tr...
“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex...People are irrational” said physiologist, Hugh Mackay. As a matter of fact nothing was perfect for Romeo and Juliet. Their lives were messy. Their relationship was complex. And they certainly did act irrationally. Romeo and Juliet quickly fell in love at the beginning of the plot in the play, named after them, created by Shakespeare. To be able to escape from her home and be with her love, Juliet drank a potion that made her seem dead. Romeo, not knowing about the plan, took his life at the sight of her “dead” body. When Juliet woke up and saw Romeo dead, she ended up killing herself as well due to his death. Shakespeare portrays the message that being in love can cloud people’s
The next time you go to sit down and enjoy a nice juicy steak, take a moment to think about how that piece of meat came from a cow and became your rib eye steak. Many people in our nation have no idea where their food comes from, what exactly is in the food they consume, and the effects it has on their health and the health of our environment. This is largely due to the industrialized, factory farming way of producing our meat and poultry. It has left our bodies sickened and our earth battered but with an elimination of animal products and an addition of a more plant based diet we can begin to restore …..
The people value cows so much that they believe the greatest sign of disrespect is killing a cow. Harris disagrees with their ideas and believes that they are wasting resources by not killing the excess cows, but he does back up the Hindus reasons for their cow love with facts. He then says that the Indian people actually are not wasting resources compared to the United States; instead they are actually being more efficient and wise about their resources. Harris also talks about how slaughtering the cows has reason for doubt due to a history of debates whether or not the benefits are even worth the slaughter. However, it is made clear that in the long run they would need it for the necessary resources it provides such as low energy substitutes for tractors. It is obvious that Hindus carry out their lives differently than the Western culture does. Through Harris’ representation of cow slaughtering, one can infer that a cow is a symbol of “mother of life”, based upon its lasting efficiency in the Indian community. This goes on to support the theory that Hindu culture has a prominent difference compared to other cultures, specifically
I’m an individual of Irish descent who lives in Wisconsin, so there is nothing refutable about the impact that meat and animal byproducts such as milk and eggs has had on my upbringing and daily diet (not forgetting potatoes of course). However, my reasoning for eating these food items isn’t because of necessity based on a dietary need or market constraint. I eat these items because I’m a young male athlete who requires a ridiculous caloric intake and these are the food items that I grew up purchasing, preparing and consuming. The scenarios in which I eat meat now occur on a sporadic basis depending on current costs, meat sources and diet, but are greatly influenced by the food culture I grew up with not by whether it is permissible or not.
Hinduism is easily the oldest major world religion that is still in use today. It has not only survived countless attacks but has also thrived and has changed little to none in the last 2500-3000 years. "The Aryans are said to have entered India through the fabled Khyber Pass, around 1500 BC. They intermingled with the local populace, and assimilated themselves into the social framework. The Aryans did not have a script, but they developed a rich tradition. They composed the hymns of the four vedas, the great philosophic poems that are at the heart of Hindu thought" (The Aryans and the Vedic Age, 2004, par. 2).
There were two religions that first accepted vegetarianism: Hinduism made the cow a sacred animal, something to be respected and admired, and over time, these ideals evolved from mere ideas to commonplace social practices. Ahimsa is the principle that teaches one to not to injure a living creature for fear of negative karmic impact and dietary impurity.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Domesticated Cattle belong to the family Bovidae and sub family Bovinae, which appeared in the Miocene approximately 20 million years ago. There are more than 800 different cattle breeds recognized worldwide. Cattle are considered the most important and significant domesticated economic animal (Loftus et al. 1994). In addition to milk, cattle contribute other important commodities including meat, hides, traction and dung. The taurine and zebu cattle were probably domesticated and kept around for easy access to food, including meat, milk & their products and for their use as load-bearers and plows. The many archaeological records for domestication of wild forms of cattle (Bos primigenius) indicated that the process
Most people in the world derive their religious beliefs and traditions from their parents and peer influences. From a religious point of view, “There are many definitions for the term ‘religion’ in common usage. [Broadly defined], in order to include the greatest number of belief systems: ‘Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life’” (Robinson, 1996). However, in examining Hinduism, it is difficult to label the practices as a religion. This paper will expound upon the Hindu traditions, taking into account the characteristics of sacred elements, their meaning, and significance.
The issue of meat consumption has been a controversial topic on whether to allow the practice or discontinue it, non-meat eaters argue it’s unethical because it is abusive to animals. On the other hand, meat consumers argue that eating meat is ethical as long as meat eaters are conscious of how their meat is collected and the treatment of livestock is fair. The consumption of meat is an act that an individual decides whether to partake in or not. Therefore, the option of eating meat should not be completely taken away, but it should be limited. Eating meat ties in with vegetarian and vegan diets, in the sense that both have to follow guidelines to create an ethical approach to eating any grown foods. The consumption of food is ethical when
As a human, we possess certain rights that protect us in society, however the animals we raise for food live under a much more complicated system that constantly changes. Americans have recently begun to protest animal treatment, especially in the meat industry. Many animal rights groups claim that animal farming is an inhuman practice that violates the rights of all living creatures. Farmers believe that animal right shouldn't change as any changes could cost them millions in new technology to safely care for the animals. The American farming industry poses several moral issues about animal rights which possess no easy solution, however new alternatives appear to have answers for this growing dilemma.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
One thing that I have learned is that Hindus do not worship cows. Hinduism has no founder or date of origin. Hindus believe in one supreme God who created the universe. He created many Gods, highly advanced spiritual beings, to be his helpers. Many Hindus are devoted followers of Shiva or Vishnu, whom they regard as the only true God, while others look inward to the divine Self, meaning meditation. Whomever they decide to worship, it all points to the same deity.