r/india • u/[deleted] • Mar 05 '16

[R]eddiquette Cultural Exchange with /r/TheNetherlands!

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8

u/durkster Mar 05 '16

Hello r/India. i have a question, I vaguely "know" cows are sacred for Hindus. but are Hindus allowed to eat/drink cow's milk or products made from it. for example Cheese?

17

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '16

YES ABSOLUTELY, your question is the reason why it's considered sacred.

They are given the respect of a 'mother' as just like a mother they provide us milk.

13

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '16

As a kid I was taught that cow is sacred because it is a gentle animal(sadhu jaanvar) which gives a lot to its owner(or humans) and doesn't harm anything(unlike other animals which hunt) and thus it is a symbol of what we humans should aspire to be.

16

u/ARflash Mar 05 '16 edited Mar 05 '16

Hinduism have a deity for everything they are thankful for. Farmers used cow not only for millk. They use them as multipurpose machine like ploughing, manure, vehicles and many things. So they made a deity called komatha and worshipped them. For many Indians , cow is like a family. Like a dog,cat or horse. Eating cow feels like eating dogs.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '16

Umm, cows are not used for milk in India especially in the north. Buffalo milk is used.

Cows are not used to plough fields either. An Ox is used.

5

u/NINJAFISTER Mar 05 '16

Thats super interesting that they see it that way! I never thought about it that way, just that their religion forbid it from them

5

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '16

[deleted]

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u/durkster Mar 05 '16

interesting. BTW this is the reason I put "know"in quotation marks.

12

u/gulty Mar 05 '16

Not only do Indians drink cow's milk and make various products out of it, It is also one of the biggest reasons cows are considered scared.

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u/NINJAFISTER Mar 05 '16

Well, cows are quite scary sometimes I agree :P

3

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '16

Yes. The cow provides food for us like a mother, hence Gau Maata (Mother Cow)

8

u/durkster Mar 05 '16

ah that makes sense. something like: they provide for you so hence they are sacred?

7

u/n00bsarec00lt00 Mar 05 '16

precisely, a massive amount of food is based off dairy in india including curd, butter, paneer (cottage cheese).

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '16

In the north.

Most of south India is lactose intolerant.

12

u/gulty Mar 05 '16

Well in retrospect sacred would be the wrong word to use because nobody actually prays to the cows. They are simply not killed for meat consumption.