Indian Cows: Blessed Bovines!

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The Holy Nandi Bull

Cows As Gifts
Of all gifts, the cow is still considered the highest in rural India. The Puranas have it that there is no gift more sacred than the gift of cows. "There is no gift that produces more blessed merit." Lord Rama was given a dowry of thousands of cows and bullocks when he married Sita.

Cow-Dung, Ahoy!
Cows are also thought to be cleansers and sanctifiers. The cow-dung is an efficacious disinfectant and often used as fuel in lieu of firewood. In the scriptures, we find the sage Vyasa saying that cows are the most efficacious cleansers of all.

No Beef Please!
Since the cow is thought to be God's useful gift to mankind, consuming beef or veal is considered sacrilegious for Hindus. Selling beef is banned in many Indian cities, and few Hindus would be ready to even taste cattle meat, for socio-cultural reasons.

Brahmins & Beef
Hinduism and Islam: A Comparative Study, however, says that the cow used to be slaughtered by the ancient Hindus for beef as well as sacrifice. "There are clear evidences in the Rig Veda, the most sacred Hindu scripture, that the cow used to be sacrificed by Hindus for religious purposes." Gandhi in his Hindu Dharma writes about "a sentence in our Sanskrit text-book to the effect that Brahmins of old used to eat beef".