Hare Krishna,
I want to know what are benefits of serving cow on daily basis. Scriptural references are welcome.
Your Servant,
Santosh Jagtap
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Hare Krishna,
I want to know what are benefits of serving cow on daily basis. Scriptural references are welcome.
Your Servant,
Santosh Jagtap
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
Replies
In todays city life, how we can serve cows ? Are there some practical examples ?
Your Servant,
Santosh
Even after knowing Krishna’s life, we overlook the importance Krishna gave to the cows. There were two instances where Krishna has tried to convince us of how one can win Krishna by serving a cow.
Mata Yashoda took Krishna to cow and prayed cow for Krishna’s well-being, when she saw Krishna being attacked by the demon Putana. Krishna’s parents knew that protecting cow alone can bring health, wealth and prosperity. Mata Yashoda told us that cow protects us from ill-will and negative energies.
That was the first instance where we were guided by Krishna about protection of cows. The second incidence was when the King of heaven: Indra wanted to kill the people of Vrindavan, when he came t0 know that they have stopped worshipping him. It is regarded as the First sinful act of person blessed with transcendental qualities-“Dev aparadh”.
The merciful Krishna instead of giving any curse or personal punishment to King Indra took the effort of lifting the Goverdhan for seven consecutive days. Despite the fact that Krishna and his men were troubled, Krishna forgives Indra as he donated Surbhi cow to Krishna. This shows us How Krishna was in the awe of cows. Krishna always taught about importance of cows through his actions. His love for cows is also seen from his two names “Gopala- the protector of the cows and Govinda- “one who brings satisfaction to the cows”
In the 11th (11.11.43) Canto of Shrimat Bhagwatam Krishna told his beloved cousin Udhava that he can be worshiped by offering cow grass and other suitable grains. Worshiping cow is equal to worshiping Krishna.
Bhagwat Geeta tells us about the importance of being in”Satva guna”, Satva guna brings us peace and happiness and worshiping cow increases our satva guna. Drinking cow milk blesses us with Divine consciousness and Divine energy and fills our body with transcendental qualities (sattvikta).
The product manufactured from cow milk helps us purify our body and purify our thoughts which in-turn helps us to perform right actions.
By feeding grains and by offering puja to the cows, one can receive extraordinary spiritual benefits. Serving and protecting cow pleases God and Demi-gods present in the cow and it takes us closer to the Supreme personality of God.
According to Skanda Purana, “One can demolish all his sinful acts by simply offering respect to the cows”. If we maintain and serve a cow in a nice manner then we can not only catch Krishna’s attention and but we can please Krishna as well.
Krishna is kind with those who save cows and protect them. He is delighted by any effort done to serve a cow and he never even forgets us if we benefit cow.
As an animal cow is very lovable, simple and gentle, what we can do to serve her is we can buy grain for her, feed her every time we get an opportunity and we can donate the cow to an institution where they are treated with utmost care.
Mahatma Gandhi once said” Cow is the source of progress and prosperity. In many ways it is superior to one’s mother”.
Your servant
Bhanu kiran
Hare Krishna ,AGTSP
In return for all the service the cow and ox provide, the Vedas prescribe three duties for human beings toward the cow:
Serving the cow: We should serve the cow with the same attitude that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, serves the cows in Vrindavana. The Srimad- Bhagavatam describes in detail how Lord Krishna takes the cows and calves every morning to graze on the pastures of Govardhana Hill. There are hundreds of thousands of cows at the palace of Nanda Maharaja (Lord Krishna’s father), and each cow has her own name. Whenever Lord Krishna plays His flute and calls the cows by name, the cows, intelligent and affectionate, come running toward Him.
The Vedic literature enjoins us to satisfy the needs of the cows daily (with food, shelter, and so on) before we satisfy our own needs. This is how Aryans—civilized persons—should serve the cows.
Worshiping the cows: The Vedic scripture states that all the demigods and demigoddesses reside in the body of a cow. This explains why the body of a cow is divine and holy. If we worship Mother Cow, we attain the same material benefits we’d get by worshiping the demigods and demi-goddesses individually. The Garuda Purana says that anyone who has even once worshiped Mother Cow will be saved after death from the great suffering of hell (Naraka). Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, gave more importance to the worship of the cows than to the worship of the king of the demigods, Indra. Therefore in India even today many millions of pious Vedic followers worship Mother Cow at least once a year on Govardhana Puja day.
Protecting the cows: If we accept the cow as our mother, she deserves our veneration and love. And we should protect her from all dangers. In Vedic times it was the duty of everyone, especially kings, to protect the cows at all cost.
In the Vedic literature we find the revealing story of Emperor Dalip (an ancestor of Lord Ramacandra in the Sun Dynasty) and his commitment to cow protection. Once when Emperor Dalip was in the forest, he saw that a ferocious lion had gotten hold of a cow and was going to kill her. The emperor challenged the lion, “If you kill the cow, I will kill you. Let this cow go free!”
The lion replied, “O pious king! For my food I must kill animals. If I let this cow go free, what will I eat? I’ll die of hunger.”
Emperor Dalip thought for a few moments and replied, “O lion, if you let this cow go free, you do not have to die of hunger. I offer my body for you to eat! Let my body be your food!”
As soon as Emperor Dalip lay before the lion to be killed so that the cow could live, the lion and cow transformed themselves into a divine man and woman. The lion was Dharma, righteousness personified, and the cow was Mother Earth personified. They had been testing the emperor’s commitment to cow protection.
How can we protect cows today? In the United States alone more than forty million cows will be slaughtered this year to satisfy the demands of meat-eaters. And all over the globe many millions more will be slaughtered for the same reason. Yet this should not discourage us from our goal of cow protection. Even today, when the effects of Kali Yuga (the Age of Ignorance) are so strong, intelligent people can take part in the auspicious act of cow protection in two ways: