43.
Cow Represents Earth And Life
There are still parts of the world where people live a pre-industrial life. For example Indonesian Borneo. Daily life in Borneo's upcountry is usually pleasantly dull, as chickens scratch around, the women fan rice on mats to dry it, thunderstorms roll through, the sun dries the muddy paths, flowers riot into bloom, and it all starts over again the next day. Pastoral Mongolia partially fits the category too, with its world revolving around camels, cows and sheep rather than rice and bananas.
Preindustrial life was easy on resources - both human and natural. Before capitalism, most people did not work very long hours. The tempo of life was slow, even leisurely; the pace of work relaxed. People were at peace and so was Earth’s environment.
As we have seen in earlier pages, in a vast number of ways and places, the biosphere of this planet is undergoing a great deal of damage. Parts of the environment have already been rendered uninhabitable through toxic wastes and nuclear power plant disasters, while systemic pollution, ozone holes, global warming, and other disasters are increasingly tearing the fabric on which all life depends. That such damage is wrought overwhelmingly by corporations in a competitive international market economy has never been clearer, while the need to replace the existing society with one such as social ecology advances has never been more urgent.
Modernization, the replacement of machines for muscle, is a universal social solvent. Even when resisted by traditional leaders, modernization erodes established social, economic patterns, and threatens ecosystems.
Peasants and tribal members ultimately succumb to mechanisms yielding enhanced productivity. They rapidly scrap traditional practices in favor of those more materially productive.
This modernization has taken a toll on our connection with nature and general web of life.
Preindustrial life was easy on resources - both human and natural. Before capitalism, most people did not work very long hours. The tempo of life was slow, even leisurely; the pace of work relaxed. People were at peace and so was Earth’s environment.
As we have seen in earlier pages, in a vast number of ways and places, the biosphere of this planet is undergoing a great deal of damage. Parts of the environment have already been rendered uninhabitable through toxic wastes and nuclear power plant disasters, while systemic pollution, ozone holes, global warming, and other disasters are increasingly tearing the fabric on which all life depends. That such damage is wrought overwhelmingly by corporations in a competitive international market economy has never been clearer, while the need to replace the existing society with one such as social ecology advances has never been more urgent.
Modernization, the replacement of machines for muscle, is a universal social solvent. Even when resisted by traditional leaders, modernization erodes established social, economic patterns, and threatens ecosystems.
Peasants and tribal members ultimately succumb to mechanisms yielding enhanced productivity. They rapidly scrap traditional practices in favor of those more materially productive.
This modernization has taken a toll on our connection with nature and general web of life.
Gaia - The Earthly Deity
Gaia is the primal Greek goddess personifying the Earth. Gaia is a primordial deity in the ancient Greek pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess.
Etymologically Gaia is a compound word of two elements. Ge, meaning "Earth" and ‘aia’ is a derivative of an Indo-European stem meaning "Grandmother".
This epical name was revived in 1979 by James Lovelock, in ‘Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth’ which proposed a Gaia hypothesis. The hypothesis proposes that living organisms and inorganic material are part of a dynamic system that shapes the Earth's biosphere, and maintains the Earth as a fit environment for life. In some Gaia theory approaches, the Earth itself is viewed as an organism with self-regulatory functions. Further books by Lovelock and others popularized the Gaia Hypothesis, which was widely embraced and passed into common usage as part of the heightened awareness of environmental concerns of the 1990s.
Gaia has been widely held throughout history and has been the basis of a belief which still coexists with the great religions. Today the very word ‘Gaia’ has come to mean ecology and sustainability. There is a thriving green community which runs the portal Gaia. com.
Interestingly, Vedic literatures have similar words, ‘Gau’ or ‘Gava’. The word Gaia has been derived from these words. If we go to Nirukta, the earliest book of etymology from India, and look up its meaning, the two primary meanings of the word ‘gau’, from which ‘gava’ is derived, are given in the following order:
1.The planet earth
2.The animal cow.
By using interchangeable words for cow and Earth, Vedas, the oldest repository of knowledge, emphatically state that cow is a representation of the planet earth itself. In almost all Indian languages, cow is knows as ‘gai’.
The cow is complete ecology, a gentle creature and a symbol of abundance. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. It is so giving, taking nothing but grass. For thousands of years, mankind lived happily, depending on land and cows. To live with cows is to live in perfect cooperation with nature. In a society if you only had cows and agricultural pursuits, you wouldn’t require anything else in the name of artificial luxuries.
Etymologically Gaia is a compound word of two elements. Ge, meaning "Earth" and ‘aia’ is a derivative of an Indo-European stem meaning "Grandmother".
This epical name was revived in 1979 by James Lovelock, in ‘Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth’ which proposed a Gaia hypothesis. The hypothesis proposes that living organisms and inorganic material are part of a dynamic system that shapes the Earth's biosphere, and maintains the Earth as a fit environment for life. In some Gaia theory approaches, the Earth itself is viewed as an organism with self-regulatory functions. Further books by Lovelock and others popularized the Gaia Hypothesis, which was widely embraced and passed into common usage as part of the heightened awareness of environmental concerns of the 1990s.
Gaia has been widely held throughout history and has been the basis of a belief which still coexists with the great religions. Today the very word ‘Gaia’ has come to mean ecology and sustainability. There is a thriving green community which runs the portal Gaia. com.
Interestingly, Vedic literatures have similar words, ‘Gau’ or ‘Gava’. The word Gaia has been derived from these words. If we go to Nirukta, the earliest book of etymology from India, and look up its meaning, the two primary meanings of the word ‘gau’, from which ‘gava’ is derived, are given in the following order:
1.The planet earth
2.The animal cow.
By using interchangeable words for cow and Earth, Vedas, the oldest repository of knowledge, emphatically state that cow is a representation of the planet earth itself. In almost all Indian languages, cow is knows as ‘gai’.
The cow is complete ecology, a gentle creature and a symbol of abundance. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. It is so giving, taking nothing but grass. For thousands of years, mankind lived happily, depending on land and cows. To live with cows is to live in perfect cooperation with nature. In a society if you only had cows and agricultural pursuits, you wouldn’t require anything else in the name of artificial luxuries.
Cow Protection - The Bottom Line In Sustainable Living
Knowing something of the current state of the environmental movements, we can say with amazing certainty that cow protection and ox power are the very epitome of the bottom line in sustainability. No matter how we look at the topic, there is nothing that comes as close to solving all the problems of the modern world as do cow protection and ox power. Just name an issue of the day: air and water pollution, crime, poverty, unemployment, war, famine, hunger, disease, pestilence, floods, earthquakes, over grazing, global warming, deforestation, etc. A society based on the Vedic principles of cow protection and ox power knows none of these issues.
Rama-rajya, or government by Lord Ramachandra, defines a society which is happy in all respects and where there exists perfect harmony between man, nature and other life forms. This is a society wherein no one even suffers from physical ailments or mental agony. In this society, the demigods or the controlling deities of nature are pleased to adjust universal affairs for the complete satisfaction of all the inhabitants, including even those lower than humans (the animals, birds, plants, fish, reptiles, and germs). And cow protection forms the backbone of such an ideal society. (SrimanVaninatha dasa)
Rama-rajya, or government by Lord Ramachandra, defines a society which is happy in all respects and where there exists perfect harmony between man, nature and other life forms. This is a society wherein no one even suffers from physical ailments or mental agony. In this society, the demigods or the controlling deities of nature are pleased to adjust universal affairs for the complete satisfaction of all the inhabitants, including even those lower than humans (the animals, birds, plants, fish, reptiles, and germs). And cow protection forms the backbone of such an ideal society. (SrimanVaninatha dasa)
Cow & Environmental Protection
Vedic culture’s concern for nature and life in general is reflected in an attitude of reverence for the cow. Cow represents the Vedic values of selfless service, strength, dignity, and non-violence. For these reasons, although not all Hindus are vegetarian, they traditionally abstain from eating beef.
As he [Lord Krsna] grew to be six or seven years old, the Lord was given charge of looking after the cows and bulls in the grazing grounds. He was the son of a well-to-do landholder who owned hundreds of thousands of cows, and according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. With these two things humanity can solve its eating problem. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed.
Lord Krsna, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaisyas, should herd cows and bulls and give protection to the valuable animals. According to smrti regulations, the cow is the mother and the bull is the father of the human being. The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of the mother, human society takes cow's milk. Similarly the bull is the father of human society because the father earns for the children just as the bull tills the ground to produce food grains. Human society will kill its spirit of life by killing the father and the mother.
It is mentioned herein that the beautiful cows and bulls were of various checkered colors -- red, black, blue, green, yellow, ash, etc. And because of their colors and healthy smiling features, the atmosphere was enlivening.
~ Srila Prabhupada (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.29)
Vedic seers could see into the future... to our time when we would feed cows ground up cows and make mad cow disease... a time when mankind would be all bad... they saw us abusing everything...from our fellow creatures to nature all around us.
Africans for thousands of years used cow dung cakes as fuel. In 18th and 19th century missionaries taught them to give up this ‘uncivilized’ practice. People turned to forests for fuel and in no time the continent was bald.
The cow dung is an important source of producing non-conventional energy. It is a substitute for firewood and electricity. As a result, the forests can be conserved and their faunal wealth can be enriched.
Every single aspect of cow protection interweaves with protection of our environment. In fact, care for cow represents care for life and nature in general. The cow is central to our life and bio-diversity. Cow protection has a great potential in poverty alleviation and employment generation. It deserves full support at all levels.
Africans for thousands of years used cow dung cakes as fuel. In 18th and 19th century missionaries taught them to give up this ‘uncivilized’ practice. People turned to forests for fuel and in no time the continent was bald.
The cow dung is an important source of producing non-conventional energy. It is a substitute for firewood and electricity. As a result, the forests can be conserved and their faunal wealth can be enriched.
Every single aspect of cow protection interweaves with protection of our environment. In fact, care for cow represents care for life and nature in general. The cow is central to our life and bio-diversity. Cow protection has a great potential in poverty alleviation and employment generation. It deserves full support at all levels.
Stop Killing The Cows, Stop Killing The Planet
We can safely conclude that reducing or eliminating meat consumption would have substantial positive effects on the environment. Fewer trees would be cut, less soil would be eroded, and desertification would be substantially slowed. A major source of air and water pollution would be removed, and scarce fresh water would be conserved. “To go beyond beef is to transform our very thinking about appropriate behavior toward nature,” says Jeremy Rifkin. “We come to appreciate the source of our sustenance, the divinely inspired creation that deserves nurture and requires stewardship. Nature is no longer viewed as an enemy to be subdued and tamed.”
