People are generally unaware of the importance
of cows. Cows produce, in large quantities, the
miracle food, milk. Milk is produced from the
blood of the cow, however she is happy to give
her blood transformed in a peaceful, non-violent
way in the form of milk.
The cow is so merciful she is freely giving us
her milk which contains all the vitamins, proteins
and other nutrients found in flesh. If people
drink milk there is absolutely no need for animal
killing and no possibility of their diets being
deficient in any way. One can survive simply by
drinking milk.
Milk is a complete food.
As
devotees of Krishna, we have a special interest
in protecting cows because Krishna is a cow-herd
boy. It seems amazing... How could God be a cow-herd
boy? But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...
Krishna likes the cows very much. Therefore, because
Krishna is very friendly towards the cows, killing
cows is more sinful than killing other animals.
Any unnecessary killing is sinful so naturally
we are vegetarians. But we are more Krishnatarian
than vegetarian. In any case killing cows is most
sinful.
Many of the problems we are now facing, including
violence and wars, are a direct result of the
massive cow killing now going on everywhere. We
don't connect it. It is karma. When we do something
violent to another living entity that violence
will come back on us in the future. It's just
like bouncing a ball on the ground... it will
bounce back up again. Scientists can relate to
the forces and natural principles at work in the
bouncing ball but they cannot yet see the same
forces acting on a more subtle level. But karma
is the same law that causes the ball to bounce
back up... it works with our actions as well as
with balls!
Of course animals are less intelligent than people.
They can't defend themselves against us. But that
doesn't mean they have no rights. They are born
into this world just like you and me and they
have a right to live here also. People just don't
think about it. Even when we are young, our mother
always lovingly served us steak and potatoes and
encouraged us to dine heartily on the carcass
so we could "grow up big and strong."
And the TV adds and the billboards daily reinforce
the conditioning that it's "perfectly normal"
to kill animals for food. So most never question
it; they don't make the connection between the
seemingly innocent hamburger on their plate and
the horror of the slaughterhouse. "Out of
sight, out of mind."
But the fact is, to satisfy our corrupted appetites,
billions of animals are unnecessarily and brutally
butchered every year. And year after year the
inhumanity continues to be overlooked, and because
of this our society is becoming more and more
callous...and cruel.
Is it right that animals, fully sentient beings,
are made to suffer simply because we "like
the taste?" Has selfishness overcome our
reason? We've got blood on our hands. It's no
wonder there is so much violence amongst the people
of our society when they exhibit so much violence
towards animals. "What goes around comes
around."
The Nectar of Immortality
Milk is compared to nectar, which one can drink
to become immortal. Of course, simply drinking
milk will not make one immortal, but it can increase
the duration of one's life.
In modern civilization milk is not thought of
as being important, therefore people are not living
very long.
Although in this age anyone can live up to one
hundred years, the duration of life is reduced
because people do not drink large quantities of
milk. Instead of drinking milk, they prefer to
slaughter an animal and eat it's flesh.
The cow should be protected, milk should be drawn
from the cows, and this milk should be prepared
in various ways. One should take ample milk, and
thus one can prolong one's life and develop the
finer tissues of the brain.
The Cow is Our Mother
The Vedic Scriptures refer to the cow as our mother.
When we stop taking milk from our mother the cow
gladly takes over the role of supplying milk.
For this reason the cow is our mother.
It is natures' special arrangement that the cow
provides milk to give nourishment to civilised
people. The barbarians take blood by cutting the
throat of a poor innocent animal, while civilized
people drink milk which contains all of the nutritious
qualities of meat without the necessity of violence.
We are now killing millions of our mothers every
year in such a brutal way in enormous slaughterhouses.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
estimated that in 1984 229,249,000 cattle and
calves were killed for meat production. This cow-killing
is the most sinful activity and we are suffering
in many ways as a result of the enormous burden
of bad karma it generates.
The Misery of Cow-Killing
Ample food grains can be produced through agricultural
enterprises, profuse milk, yogurt and ghee can
be arranged through cow protection and abundant
honey can be obtained if the forests are protected.
Instead of a simple lifestyle, modern civilization
is busy killing the cows that are the source of
yogurt, milk and ghee; they are cutting down all
the trees that supply honey and they are opening
factories to manufacture nuts, bolts, automobiles
and wine instead of engaging in agriculture. This
is creating so many problems in the world
How can the people be happy? They must suffer
from all the misery of materialism. Their bodies
become wrinkled and gradually deteriorate until
they become almost like dwarfs, and a bad odor
emanates from them because of unclean perspiration
resulting from eating all kinds of nasty things.
This is not human civilization.
Living Cows are an Economic Asset
It is quite clear that a living cow yields society
more food than a dead one - in the form of a continuing
supply of milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and other
high-protein foods.
In 1971 Stewart Odend'hal of the University of
Missouri conducted a detailed study of cows in
Bengal and found that far from depriving humans
of food. they ate only inedible remains of harvested
crops (rice hulls, tops of sugarcane, etc.) and
grass. "Basically", he said, "the
cattle convert items of little direct human value
into products of immediate utility." This
should put to rest the myth that people are starving
in India because they will not kill their cows.
Interestingly enough, India seems to have surmounted
her food problems, which have always had more
to do with occasional severe drought or political
upheaval than with sacred cows. A panel of experts
at the Agency for International Development, in
a statement cited in the United States Congressional
Record for December 2nd. l980. concluded "India
produces enough to feed all its people."
If allowed to live, cows produce high quality,
protein rich foods in amounts that stagger the
imagination. It is abundantly clear that cows
(living ones) are one of mankind's, most valuable
food resources.
Movements to save seals, dolphins and whales from
slaughter are flourishing -- so why shouldn't
there be a movement to save the cows?
Environmental Damage
Another price we pay for meat eating is degradation
of the environment. The heavily contaminated run-off
from thousands of slaughterhouses and feedlots
is a major source of water pollution. In their
book "Population, Resources and Environment",
Paul and Anne Ehrlich found that to grow one pound
of wheat requires only 60 pounds of water, whereas
production of a pound of meat requires anywhere
from 2,500 to 6,000 pounds of water.
In 1973 the New York Post revealed that one large
chicken slaughtering plant in America was found
to be using 100 million gallons of water daily.
The same volume would supply a city of 25,000
people!
Land Usage, Meat and War
A study published in "Plant Foods for Human
Nutrition" reveals that an acre of beans
or peas produces ten times more protein than an
acre of pasture set aside for meat production.
Economic facts like this were known to the ancient
Greeks. In Plato's Republic the great Greek philosopher
Socrates recommended a vegetarian diet because
it would allow a country to make the most intelligent
use of its agricultural resources. He warned that
if people began eating animals, there would be
need for more pasturing land. "And the country
which was enough to support the original inhabitants
will be too small now, and not enough?" He
asked of Glaucon, who replied that this was indeed
true "And so we shall go to war, Glaucon,
shall we not?" To which Glaucon replied,
"Most certainly."
Nutrition Without Meat
Many
times the mention of vegetarianism elicits the
predictable reaction, "What about protein?"
The ideas that meat has a monopoly on protein
and that large amounts of protein are required
for energy and strength are both myths.
Of the twenty-two amino acids, all but eight can
be synthesized by the body itself, and these eight
"essential amino acids" exist in abundance
in nonflesh foods. Dairy products, grains, beans
and nuts are all concentrated sources of protein.
Cheese, peanuts and lentils, for instance, contain
more protein per gram than hamburger, pork or
porterhouse steak.
The primary energy source for the body is carbohydrates.
Only as a last resort is the body's protein utilized
for energy production. Too much protein intake
actually reduces the body's energy capacity. In
a series of comparative endurance tests conducted
by Dr. Irving Flesher of Yale, vegetarians performed
twice as well as meat-eaters. Numerous other studies
have shown that a proper vegetarian diet provides
more nutritional energy than meat. A study by
Dr I. Iotekyo and V. Kilpani at Brussels University
showed that vegetarians were able to perform physical
tasks two to three times longer than meat-eaters
before exhaustion and were recovered from fatigue
in one fifth the time needed by the meat-eaters.
Health and Meat Eating
The human body cannot deal with excessive animal
fats in the diet. As early as 1961, the Journal
of the American Medical Association stated that
ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease,
the cause of more than half of the deaths in the
United States, could be prevented by a vegetarian
diet.
Many studies have established the relationship
between colon cancer and meat eating. One reason
for the incidence of cancer is the high-fat, low-fiber
content of the meat-centred diet. The result is
a slow transit time through the colon, allowing
toxic wastes to do their damage. Meat, while being
digested, is known to generate steroid metabolites
possessing carcinogenic properties.
Chemicals and Diseases in Meat
Numerous potentially hazardous chemicals, of which
consumers are generally unaware, are present in
meat and meat products. In their book, "Poisons
In Your Body", Garry and Steven Null give
an inside look at the production techniques used
by corporately owned animal producers , "The
animals are kept alive and fattened by continuous
administration of tranquilizers, hormones, antibiotics
and 2,700 other drugs," they write, "the
process starts even before birth and continues
long after death. Although these drugs will still
be present in the meat when you eat it, the law
does not require that they be listed on the package."
Because of the filthy, overcrowded conditions
forced upon animals by the livestock industry,
vast amounts of antibiotics must be used, but
such rampant use of antibiotics naturally creates
antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are passed
on to those who eat the meat. The US FDA estimate
that penicillin and tetracycline save the meat
industry $1.9 billion a year giving them sufficient
reason to overlook the potential health hazards.
In addition to dangerous chemicals, meat often
carries diseases from the animals themselves.
Crammed together in unclean conditions, force-fed
and inhumanely treated, animals destined for slaughter
contract many more diseases than they ordinarily
would. Meat inspectors attempt to filter out unacceptable
meats, but because of pressures from industry
and lack of sufficient time for examination, much
of what passes is far less wholesome than the
meat purchaser realizes.
The Hidden Cost of Meat
According to information compiled by the United
States Department of Agriculture, over ninety
percent of all the grain produced in America is
used for feeding livestock -- cows. pigs, lambs
and chickens -- that wind up on dinner tables
The process of using grain to produce meat is
incredibly wasteful. Information from the USDA's
Economic Research Service shows that only one
pound of beef is produced for every sixteen pounds
of grain consumed.
In his book "Proteins: Their Chemistry and
Politics," Dr. Aaron Altshul notes that,
"In terms of calorie units per acre, a diet
of grains, vegetables and beans will support twenty
times more people than a diet of meat.
If the earth's arable land were used primarily
for the production of vegetarian foods, the planet
could easily support a population of twenty billion
and more.
In a report submitted to the United Nations World
Food Conference (Rome, 1974), Rene Durmont, an
agricultural economist at France's National Agricultural
Institute, made this judgement , "The over
consumption of meat by the rich means hunger for
the poor."
From KRISHNA.ORG with permission
(The Hare Krishna Movement)