So I’m sure most of you have probably heard that Hindus worship cows (or something of the sort). But, I’ve asked about 7 Hindus that I personally know whether they worship cows or not, and all of them have said no (they explained that they highly respect the animal). Now, I know there’s countless sects of Hinduism, but is there really a sect that worships cows or is it all just a myth?
Re: Hindus and Cows
there only sacred to thm
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Right. Well then. This thread has served it’s purpose. 
hahah no. 
I was actually ummm looking for maybe some sources from sacred Hindu texts and all that would verify the claim.
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hinduism doesn't say to worship cows......but cows are indeed sacred. There is difference between sacred and worship. if some hindu says he worships cows, then either he has got confused or he doesn't know. there are many reasons for cows taking a sacred role!
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^ And the reasons are....?
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[quote]
Now, I know there's countless sects of Hinduism, but is there really a sect that worships cows or is it all just a myth?
[/quote]
hay.....which sect?.....A sect for worshiping cows itself...i have never heard of it.
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Even though I am Hindu; I love the taste of Beef. A lot of hindus I know eat beef.
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many i guess
(1) In ancient or vedic times they were source of milk
(2) They are considered as gift of God to mankind because they do not take anything from human beings. They just feed on anything that is there and give milk and as well as bulls plough the land for agriculture
(3) cow dung is considered as an excellent source of fertilizer, also a fuel and also as a disinfectant
(4)In hinduism, human characteristics are divided into Three based on his desires. Those characteristics are called *gunas *in sanscrit. They are *tamasic, rajasic and sativic *Gunas.
Every human being has all these gunas in varying proportions. A cows milk and butter is 'considered' to increase *satvic *tendency in a human being. so cows are given importance.
In short if i explain, people with more tamasic nature will run more towards meeting their carnal desires like sex, sleep, laziness etc, those with more rajasic tendencies are more status conscious and those with satva guna are more spiritual nature. They are well balanced and more capable of handling temptations.
In vedas, cows are mentioned in many places. Sometimes are to be interpreted literally and majority of the times symbolically according to aurobindo.
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Hindus believe God is in everything - in you, in me, in cows, in monkeys. So they choose to worship the cow, as if they were worshipping God.
Rig Veda, Book 8 mentions cows many times. I will post exact referrences later.
eg.
She (the cow) is like the mother of the cosmic Forces
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This is my understanding (am I wrong?): The time spent in-between different lives (as they believe in reincarnation) are spent in the form of a cow? So a cow could be your late grandmother on her way to her next life... you wouldn't want to hurt her. That doesn't mean you worship cows... it just means you are very careful not to hurt the souls on their way to their next life...
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(1) In ancient or vedic times they were source of milk
Come now Mr Singh. You know as well as I do that the Vedic times were pre Hindu times, and the Vedic era occurred in Pakistan not India. From this, you will also know that during Vedic times beef was eaten and cows were slaughtered, in fact Agni is quoted as eating cow and ox in the Rig Veda.
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i have nothing against if anyone eats beef. But i want know which verse?....besides, vedas are not be interpreted literally. that is my belief and everyones belief.
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c'mon....no doubt hindus do believe that God is everywhere or divinity in everything. A person or everything that is there cannot consider himself/itself to be seperate from the system. This hinduism does preach. But no worshipping. Even i mistakenly used this word in other thread!
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this should give a better picture
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Even in quran surah al-buqarah (the COW) cow is mentioned and over here there are many references to cow.
YUSUFALI: They said: “Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is!” He said; “He says: The heifer should be neither too old nor too young, but of middling age. Now do what ye are commanded!”
PICKTHAL: They said: Pray for us unto thy Lord that He make clear to us what (cow) she is. (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith, Verily she is a cow neither with calf nor immature; (she is) between the two conditions; so do that which ye are commanded.
SHAKIR: They said: Call on your Lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is. Musa said: He says, Surely she is a cow neither advanced in age nor too young, of middle age between that (and this); do therefore what you are commanded.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/002.qmt.html
Does this mean that the person really referred over here is a Cow???..i dont think so!. …besides, i didn’t really get the meaning also of this verse
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^Read in context, and in any case all animals are living beings, you only kill them for food, nothing else.
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I know that....but my point is, does "she is a cow" in that verse really means that she is a cow???.....that was my point. i.e, to be aware when to interpret literally when not to
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Also it said that Lord Agni (lord of fire) resides in the stomach of the cow, hence it is sacred to them.
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well, this verse of Quran does not refer to any person but indeed it reders to a cow itself…
the story is that Moses (as) asked his ppl to sacrifice a cow for Allah, but the ppl did not want to obey him so came up with excuses of not slaughtering a cow…
one of the excuses was that they did not know what the age of the cow shud be which they shud slaughter…
so in this verse Moses (as) tells them that the cow they shud slaughter (for sacrifice) shud be a middle aged cow, neither too young nor too old…
so the mention is not to a person…
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There are a lot of confusion in defining even the word Hindu. One theory is that all persons living east of Indus are Hinuds just like a person living in Punjab is a punjabi whether he is a muslim or a sikh. In the first census held under british rule, for ease all the religions less, sikh, muslim & christians were given a common name Hindu.
Therefore there are a lot of variations in Hindu beliefs. Brahimins do not eat meat at all, not even eggs (majority) but rest all eat and a lot of them eat beef as well. There are many more myths prevailing about Hindus on our side of the border due to less contact with them.