The importance of Cow in Hindu Vedic Culture

History and Importance of Cow

1) India has 150 million cows, each of them giving an average of less than 200 litres of milk per year. If they could be fed and looked after, they can give 11,000 litres, as Israeli cows do.

2) The cow was elevated to divinity in the Rig Veda. In Book VI, Hymn XXVIII attributed to Rishi Bhardwaja extols the virtue of the cow. In Atharva Veda (Book X, Hymn X), the cow is formally designated as Vishnu, and `all that the Sun surveys'.

3) The cow, according to the Vedas, provides four products for human use: 
(i) Godugdha (cow milk): As per Ayurveda, cow milk has fat, carbohydrates, minerals and Vitamin B, and even a capacity for body resistance to radiation and for regenerating brain cells. 

(ii) Goghruta (ghee): The best ghee, it is, as per Ayurveda useful in many disorders. In yajna, it improves the air's oxygen level. 

(iii) Gomutra (urine): Eight types of urine are used for medicinal purpose nowadays, among which cow urine is held to be the best. The Americans are busy patenting it. It has anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antioxidant properties. It has immune-modulator properties, which makes it useful for immune deficiency diseases. In the classics there are many references to cow urine as a drug of choice. Even the Parsis follow this practice.

(iv) Gomaya (dung): is considered as valuable as Gomutra and used to purify the environment, as it has radium and checks radiation effects.

4) Ancient Hindu wisdom on the medicinal properties of cow urine is borne out by two patents granted in the US for cow urine distillate (Patent numbers 6410059 and 6896907).

5) The Indian culture gives special place to the cow. All the 330 million gods have cow as their prime temple (all devas reside in the cow). Deva means to give, the strength to give, the ability to give more and take the minimum. This is known as Devata. The cow takes very less from us and gives us more. Therefore the Indian people have shown this with the help of strict devotion and dedication. Thus the cow has a prominent place in the Indian life and economy. Wealth, religion, enjoyment and salvation are accomplished with the service of the cow. The Indian farmer used to be known as king, or the giver of grains, due to the tradition developed in India thousands of years back. Our entire life is dependent on the cow.

6) Hindus take the cow as their mother. The reason is that the birth-giving mother gives milk to its child only for one or two years, but the mother cow gives milk throughout its life, which is like nectar. A black cow is tied in the Shiva temple, and when we see the Shiva along with the black cow then we are able to overcome the malefic effects of planets in our natal horoscope. When we see the ankles of the cow we protect ourselves from sudden deaths. Circumambulating the cow is equivalent to visiting all of the holy places. As the peepal tree and tulasi plant give oxygen, similarly the cow is the only animal which purifies the air. If one spoon of pure ghee is poured on burning cow dung (in homa) then they can produce one-ton of pure air, therefore ghee made with cow milk is used in sacrificial fires and havans. There is no better method to remove pollution.

7 ) The cow dung is not faeces, but a purifier. It helps produce the best quality grains, fruits, and vegetables when used as manure. Cow urine is a divine medicine and is a natural pesticide for crops. Pure ghee made with cow milk poured on burning cow cakes dung, produces a smoke that subsides the effect of poisonous gas. Cow urine contains copper, which is converted into gold inside the human body. It removes all toxicity. Drinking cow milk gives strength and increases the pure qualities in the human mind.