Cattle in religion and mythology
There are varying beliefs about cattle in societies and religions.
Cattle are considered sacred in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, as well as in African paganism. Cattle played other major roles in many religions, including those of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Israel, ancient Rome.
In some regions, especially most states of India, the slaughter of cattle is prohibited and their meat (beef) may be taboo.
In Indian religions
Legislation against the slaughter of cattle is in place throughout most states of India except Kerala and parts of the North-East.[1]
Hinduism
If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef tea or mutton, even on medical advice, I would prefer death. That is the basis of my vegetarianism.
—London Vegetarian Society on 20 November 1931.[2]
According to Ludwig Alsdorf, "Indian vegetarianism is unequivocally based on ahimsa (non-violence)" as evidenced by ancient smritis and other ancient texts of Hinduism." He adds that the endearment and respect for cattle in Hinduism is more than a commitment to vegetarianism and has become integral to its theology.[13] The respect for cattle is widespread but not universal. According to Christopher Fuller, animal sacrifices have been rare among the Hindus outside a few eastern states.[13][14] To the majority of modern Indians, states Alsdorf, respect for cattle and disrespect for slaughter is a part of their ethos and there is "no ahimsa without renunciation of meat consumption".[13]
Several scholars explain the veneration for cows among Hindus in economic terms, including the importance of dairy in the diet, the use of cow dung as fuel and fertilizer, and the importance that cattle have historically played in agriculture.
Sacred status of cow
Many ancient and medieval Hindu texts debate the rationale for a voluntary stop to cow slaughter and the pursuit of
The interdiction of the meat of the bounteous cow as food was regarded as the first step to total vegetarianism.
According to Nanditha Krishna the cow veneration in ancient India during the Vedic era, the religious texts written during this period called for non-violence towards all bipeds and quadrupeds, and often equated killing of a cow with the killing of a human being specifically a Brahmin.[22] Nanditha Krishna stated that the hymn 8.3.25 of the Hindu scripture Atharvaveda (~1200–1500 BCE) condemns all killings of men, cattle, and horses, and prays to god Agni to punish those who kill.[23][24]
In Puranas, which are part of the Hindu texts, the earth-goddess Prithvi was in the form of a cow, successively milked of beneficent substances for the benefit of humans, by deities starting with the first sovereign: Prithu milked the cow to generate crops for humans to end a famine.[25] Kamadhenu, the miraculous "cow of plenty" and the "mother of cows" in certain versions of the Hindu mythology, is believed to represent the generic sacred cow, regarded as the source of all prosperity.[26] In the 19th century, a form of Kamadhenu was depicted in poster-art that depicted all major gods and goddesses in it.[27][28] Govatsa Dwadashi which marks the first day of Diwali celebrations, is the main festival connected to the veneration and worship of cows as chief source of livelihood and religious sanctity in India, wherein the symbolism of motherhood is most apparent with the sacred cows Kamadhenu and her daughter Nandini.[29]
Historical significance
The reverence for the cow played a role in the
A historical survey of major communal riots in India between 1717 and 1977 revealed that 22 out of 167 incidents of rioting between Hindus and Muslims were attributable directly to cow slaughter.[32][33]
In Gandhi's teachings
The cow protection was a symbol of animal rights and of non-violence against all life forms for Gandhi. He venerated cows, and suggested ending cow slaughter to be the first step to stopping violence against all animals.[34] He said: "I worship it and I shall defend its worship against the whole world", and stated that "The central fact of Hinduism is cow protection."[34]
Jainism
Jainism is against violence to all living beings, including cattle. According to the Jaina sutras, humans must avoid all killing and slaughter because all living beings are fond of life, they suffer, they feel pain, they like to live, and long to live. All beings should help each other live and prosper, according to Jainism, not kill and slaughter each other.[35][36]
In the Jain religious tradition, neither monks nor laypersons should cause others or allow others to work in a slaughterhouse.[37] Jains believe that vegetarian sources can provide adequate nutrition, without creating suffering for animals such as cattle.[37] According to some Jain scholars, slaughtering cattle increases ecological burden from human food demands since the production of meat entails intensified grain demands, and reducing cattle slaughter by 50 percent would free up enough land and ecological resources to solve all malnutrition and hunger worldwide. The Jain community leaders, states Christopher Chapple, has actively campaigned to stop all forms of animal slaughter including cattle.[38]
Meitei religion and mythology
In ancient
Buddhism
The texts of
According to Saddhatissa, in the Brahmanadhammika Sutta, the Buddha "describes the ideal mode of life of Brahmins in the Golden Age" before him as follows:[47]
Like mother (they thought), father, brother or any other kind of kin,
cows are our kin most excellent from whom come many remedies.
Givers of good and strength, of good complexion and the happiness of health,
having seen the truth of this cattle they never killed.
Those Brahmins then by Dharma did what should be done, not what should not,
and so aware they graceful were, well-built, fair-skinned, of high renown.
While in the world this lore was found these people happily prospered.
Saving animals from slaughter for meat, is believed in Buddhism to be a way to acquire merit for better rebirth.[43] According to Richard Gombrich, there has been a gap between Buddhist precepts and practice. Vegetarianism is admired, states Gombrich, but often it is not practiced. Nevertheless, adds Gombrich, there is a general belief among Theravada Buddhists that eating beef is worse than other meat and the ownership of cattle slaughterhouses by Buddhists is relatively rare.[50][note 1]
Meat eating remains controversial within Buddhism, with most
Abrahamic religions
Judaism
According to the Bible,[53] the Israelites worshipped a cult image of a golden calf when the prophet Moses went up to Mount Sinai. Moses considered this a great sin against God. As a result of their abstention from the act, the Levite tribe attained a priestly role. A cult of golden calves appears later during the rule of Jeroboam.
According to the Hebrew Bible, an unblemished red cow was an important part of ancient Jewish rituals. The cow was sacrificed and burned in a precise ritual, and the ashes were added to water used in the ritual purification of a person who had come in to contact with a human corpse. The ritual is described in the Book of Numbers in Chapter 19, verses 1–14.[54]
Observant Jews study this passage every year in early summer as part of the weekly Torah portion called Chukat. A contemporary Jewish organization called the Temple Institute is trying to revive this ancient religious observance.[55]
Traditional Judaism considers beef
Some Jews committed to Jewish vegetarianism believe that Jews should refrain from slaughtering animals altogether[58] and have condemned widespread cruelty towards cattle on factory farms.[59]
Islam
Islam allows the slaughter of cows and consumption of beef, as long as the cow is slaughtered in a religious ritual called dhabīḥah or zabiha similar to the Jewish shechita.
Although slaughter of cattle plays a role in a major Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, many rulers of the Mughal Empire had imposed a ban on the slaughter of cows owing to the large Hindu and Jain populations living under their rule.[60]
The second and longest surah of the Quran is named
While addressing to children of Israel, it was said:
And when We did appoint for Moses forty nights (of solitude), and then ye chose the calf, when he had gone from you, and were wrong-doers. Then, even after that, We pardoned you in order that ye might give thanks. And when We gave unto Moses the Scripture and the criterion (of right and wrong), that ye might be led aright. And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful. (Al-Quran 2:51–54)
And when Moses said unto his people: Lo! God commandeth you that ye sacrifice a cow, they said: Dost thou make game of us ? He answered: God forbid that I should be among the foolish! They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith, Verily she is a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded. They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us of what colour she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a yellow cow. Bright is her colour, gladdening beholders. They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. Lo! cows are much alike to us; and Lo! if God wills, we may be led aright. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a cow unyoked; she plougheth not the soil nor watereth the tilth; whole and without mark. They said: Now thou bringest the truth. So they sacrificed her, though almost they did not. And (remember) when ye slew a man and disagreed concerning it and God brought forth that which ye were hiding. And We said: Smite him with some of it. Thus God bringeth the dead to life and showeth you His portents so that ye may understand. (Al-Quran 2:67–73)
Classical Sunni and Shia commentators recount several variants of this tale. Per some of the commentators, though any cow would have been acceptable, but after they "created hardships for themselves" and the cow was finally specified, it was necessary to obtain it at any cost.[65]
Christianity
The red heifer or red cow is a particular kind of cow brought to priests for sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible. Jews and some Christian fundamentalists believe that once a red heifer is born they will be able to rebuild the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.[citation needed]
The ox is the symbol of Luke the Evangelist.
Among the
Zoroastrianism
The term geush urva means "the spirit of the cow" and is interpreted as the soul of the earth. In the
The lands of Zoroaster and the
Ancient societies
Egypt
In
The Egyptians did not regard cattle as uniformly positive. Wild bulls, regarded as symbols of the forces of chaos, could be hunted and ritually killed.[70]
Nubia
As cattle were a central part of the pastoralist economy of Ancient Nubia, Africa, they also played a prominent role in their culture and mythology, as evidenced by their inclusion in burials and rock art. Starting in the Neolithic period, cattle skulls, also known as bucrania, were often placed alongside human burials. Bucrania were a status symbol, and they were used frequently in adult male burials, occasionally in adult female burials, and rarely in child burials.[71] In cemeteries at Kerma, there is a strong correlation between the number of bucrania and the quantity and lavishness of other grave goods.[72] Dozens if not hundreds of cattle were often slaughtered as tribute for the burial of one individual; 400 bucrania were found at one tumulus alone at Kerma.[73] The use of cattle skulls rather than those of sheep or goats reveals the importance of cattle in their pastoral economy, as well as the cultural associations of cattle with wealth, prosperity, and passage into the afterlife. Sometimes complete cattle were buried alongside their owner, symbolic of their relationship continuing into the afterlife.[74]
Beginning in the third millennium BCE, cattle became the most popular motif in Nubian rock art.[75] The bodies are usually depicted in profile, while the horns are facing forward. The length and shape of the horns and the pattern on the hide varied widely. Human silhouettes are often drawn alongside the cattle, symbolic of the important symbiotic relationship between cattle and humans. For pastoralists, drawing cattle may have also been a way to ensure the health of their herd. The role of cattle in Nubian mythology is more covert than in Egypt to the north, where several gods are often depicted as cattle; however, the significance of cattle in Nubian culture is evident in burial practices, understandings of the afterlife, and rock art.
Ancient Mediterranean Europe
In
The Greek gods also transformed themselves or others into cattle as a form of deception or punishment, such as in the myths of Io and Europa. In the myth of Pasiphaë, she falls in love with a bull as punishment by Poseidon. She gives birth to the Minotaur, a human-bull hybrid.
In the ancient Turkish civilization Hatti, the storm god was closely linked to a bull.[76]
Ancient northern and central Europe
Cattle appear often in
In
, out of the ice.Modern day
Today, in
In India
The Constitution of India mandates the protection of cows in India.[15] The slaughter of cattle is allowed with restrictions (like a 'fit-for-slaughter' certificate which may be issued depending on factors like age and gender of cattle, continued economic viability, etc.), but only for bulls and buffaloes and not cows in fourteen states. It is completely banned in six states with pending litigation in the supreme court to overturn the ban, while there is no restriction in many states.[81]
In Nepal
This article may be a rough translation from another language. It may have been generated, in whole or in part, by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. (March 2023) |
In Nepal, a Hindu-majority country, slaughtering of cows and bulls is completely banned.[83] Cows are considered like the Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity). The Nepalese have a festival called Tihar (Diwali) during which, on one day called Gaipuja, they perform prayers for cows.
According to a
Cows roam freely and are sacred. Buffalo slaughtering was done in Nepal at specific Hindu events, such as at the Gadhimai festival, last held in 2014.[85][86] In 2015, Nepal's temple trust on announced to cancel all future animal sacrifice at the country's Gadhimai festival.[87]
In Myanmar
The beef taboo is fairly widespread in Myanmar, particularly in the Buddhist community. In Myanmar, beef is typically obtained from cattle that are slaughtered at the end of their working lives (16 years of age) or from sick animals.
During the country's last dynasty, the
In 1885,
On 29 August 1961, the
In Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, in May 2013, 30-year-old Buddhist monk Bowatte Indrarathana Thera of the Sri Sugatha Purana Vihara self immolated to protest the government allowing religious minorities to slaughter cows.[97]
China
A beef taboo in
In written sources (including anecdotes and Daoist liturgical texts), this taboo first appeared in the 9th to 12th centuries (
Occasionally, some cows seen weeping before slaughter are often released to temples nearby.[105] [106]
Taiwan
Due to water buffalo being the primary working animal for farming, beef consumption was generally considered a taboo in early 20th century. This gradually changed with
Japan
Historically, there was a beef taboo in
This official prohibition was in place until 1872, when it was officially proclaimed that Emperor Meiji consumed beef and mutton, which transformed the country's dietary considerations as a means of modernizing the country, particularly with regard to consumption of beef.[109] With contact from Europeans, beef increasingly became popular, even though it had previously been considered barbaric.[108]
Several shrines and temples are decorated with cow figurines, which are believed to cure illnesses when stroked.
Indonesia
In
Leather
In religiously diverse countries, leather vendors are typically careful to clarify the kinds of leather used in their products. For example, leather shoes will bear a label identifying the animal from which the leather was taken. In this way, a
Judaism forbids the wearing of shoes made with leather on Yom Kippur, Tisha B'Av, and during mourning.[111]
Jainism prohibits the use of leather because it is obtained by killing animals.
See also
- 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation
- Ahir
- Bat (goddess)
- Bull (mythology)
- Bull-leaping
- Bull of Heaven
- Bull worship– Cattle in religion
- El (deity)
- Etiquette of Indian dining
- Food and drink prohibitions
- Gangotri (cow)
- Kamadhenu
- Khnum
- Minotaur
- Nandi (bull)
- Naqada III
- Cow Hugging Therapy
- Ophiotaurus
- Panchamrita
- Shambo
- Táin Bó Cúailnge
- Tarvos Trigaranus
- Vegetarianism and religion
- Zebu, the common breed of cow from India
Notes
References
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External links
- Media related to Sacred cows at Wikimedia Commons