Traditionally, the Indian breed of cows has been considered such an important species of life forming Bharat (India), that we called her mata – mother; in fact, she is worshipped. There are families which do not eat their meal unless a cow has been fed first, especially on holy days. To say that this is because of superstition is just belittling the science of spirituality in Bharat. But the fact is that today only Hindus are speaking about saving the Indian breed of cows. Why? If you check out any forum you will find that Muslims and Christians only talk insultingly about the Hindus’ love for cows – they will call us ‘piss drinkers’ – referring to the tradition of having panchgavya of which gau mutra (cow urine) is a part.
The well-researched fact is that the urine, dung and milk of only the Indian breed of cow have medicinal properties. In fact, the A1 type of milk produced by the exotic or Jersey breeds are harmful to us; they cause cancer, autism, diabetes and a host of other health problems. So doesn’t the Western world know that A2 milk is good? Don’t they know that Indian breed of cows is good? They know. Still, why don’t they spend money on protecting them? Why are they pushing in the exotic breeds into our country while taking our Indian bulls abroad?
The reason is that the entire Western world lives for today. They know that autism, mad cow disease and several other diseases are because of faulty milk and beef. But they have always thought of living in a materialistic, selfish way, only thinking about the present generation. That is why their main aim has been to earn more and more, without caring for the environment. But our Hindu rishis (saints) cared for future generations. They always had an eye on preserving God-given gifts of nature in a way that there was sufficient for the future generations too. Even our medicine system – Ayurveda, goes to the root of the problem, right from the environment itself, to prevent an illness and not just to cure it. In complete contrast, allopathy (the western system of medicine) looks at only the present and neither cures the past nor advice preventive care for the future. Even our system of marriages looks at preserving the gene pool and having the healthiest of offspring.
So let us understand one thing very clearly – only if the Hindu survives, the Indian breed of cow survives. It does not matter to a person from any other religion that the reason why we want it to survive is that Bos indicus can help all of Bharat to become strong physically, mentally and spiritually. It doesn’t matter to a person from any other religion other than Hinduism that the health of land (fertility), the health of the produce (organically grown grains, vegetables and fruits), the health of the people (A2 milk), all depends only on Bos indicus – the Indian breed of cows. The reason for this is that there are enough ‘motivated’ people who misinform people from other religions to believe that ‘cow protection’ is only the problem of the Hindus.
Now, look at some facts about South India.
Kerala is on the track to becoming a Muslim majority State. Do you think that the Vechur breed of Kerala, which is now facing extinction, will survive? Who cares? Do you think the Muslim or Christian cares? No. Only the Hindu devotees of Sri Krishna (Guruvayoor and others) care.
Tamil Nadu is soon becoming a crypto-Christians State. Already there are reports that there is hardly any desi breed of cows there. Most of the existing cattle there are of exotic/mixed/Jersey breeds and only A1 type of milk is available there. Here too, only the Hindu worries that even for yagyas he has to use panchagavya of non-desi breeds.
Another state which is following Tamil Nadu’s footsteps is Andhra Pradesh. And Telangana is soon becoming a Muslim majority State. Do you think that any Muslim/Christian cares if Punganur breed survives or not? No. Only devotees of Balaji (Tirupati) worry because the Punganur cows’ milk is required for abhishekam there.
In Karnataka too every trick in the book is being used to create new slaughterhouses and cause Hindu-Muslim rifts with cows at the centre of such rifts. Who cares if the bravest of all Bos indicus breeds – the majestic Amruth Mahal breed is now facing extinction? Only Hindus do.
Unfortunately, the reason why even Hindus care for the cows is usually for religious purposes. We have completely forgotten about the health, environment and spiritual aspect of saving gau mata. And by not teaching our people about these aspects, we are becoming victim to the tamasic way of living only for the self, not for the world as a whole. If not people of other religions, at least we Hindus can educate ourselves and spread awareness among ourselves about the benefits of the Indian breed of cows. Let us work towards saving gau mata.
* Note: On Twitter, there are spirited campaigns carried out to educate people on gau mata – the #ProtectWithPen, #SayNoToLeather, #SayYesToA2Milk campaigns. Readers are requested to go through them.
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