Himalayan Times (1953)

Six

Tniinnliujnn Sfimru

September 27, 1953

THE MOTHER COW

The cow in India is an object of
universal love and vaneration. She is
the acknowledged symbol of all that is
best and noblest in creation—gentleness,
docility, motherliness, non-violance and
trustfulness. She reflects in her person
the character and genius of the people
amidst whom she lives and has her being.
In European countries where she is
domesticated even as in India, she can
be, and often is, a terror to strangers.
That is because she lives in perpetual
fear of being slaughtered for human food.
In India where she is venerated and
loved as a symbol of Divinity, she moves
about fearlessly, An American visitor
to Banaras recently remarked that a
similar sight in America or England
was unthinkable. He said that obviously
on Indian streets the cow was feeling
perfectly at home without any fear of
molestation.

Many a legend has been woven
round the bovine fraternity in India.
The cow is the Mother, the harbinger
of prosperity, representative of the
Divine Mother Lakshmi. The bull on
the other hand, is the vehicle of Lord
Shiva.. Shiva in Samskrit means Auspi-*
, ciousness. The bull is abo the symbol
of Nandi, the grandson of Dadeechi.
and Chief of the Personal Attendants
of the Lord of Kailas.

• The alleged superstition about the
worship of the Cow and the Bull is a
myth of. the fable specially manufactured
for the edification of those who' had
already made up their, minds that India
was and continued to be a culturally
underdeveloped country full of supersti
tion and false belief What the Euro-
pean could not understand is thin. What
' is wrong in killing the cow and eating

her flesh which is as good or as bad as
any other non-vegetarian food ? Is it
not an economic waste to feed and
keep her healthy and alive while she
has ceased to be of any practical use
to her keeper and is no longer able to
give him milk ? Thus they argue.

But the Indian conception is diffe-
rent. It is one of simple gratitude for
favours received. The cow is called tho
mother because she has fed you with
the life-giving nectar from her uddtr.
Because she has fed you, she is entitled
to all the love and respect reserved for
a mother. The Tatriyopanishad which
was described by Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya of beloved memory as an ideal
convocation address to the youth on
the threshold of life enjoinos on the
student tho need to look upon the
mother as no less than God. A commen-
tator on that ITpanished explains why
the parents are asked to be looked upon
and treated as God. He asserts with
reason that this ordainrnent is born of
natural gratitude Because the mother
feeds us and looks after us when we
are hungrv or ill and unablo to look
after ourselves in our childhi od s days,
she is entitled to our gratitude. She has
given u» life bv her sacrifices. . The cow
has similarly sacrificed herself to feed us.
Unlike the human mother she continues
to feed us throughout our lives. On tho
ground that we had come unto our own
after a certain age, do we kill and eat
np our human mothers because they
are no longer able to feed us with

human milk ? Do we not love and
respect the mother for life ? If that
is our duty to the. human mother who
ceases to give us her milk after we had
reached the age of two or three at the

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