Holy Cow! - Part 5 "Why The Cow Is Considered Sacred"

Hope you've enjoyed this series of postings on "The Holy Cow!" Today's is the last of five excerpts from Tarun Chopra's book of the same title.

[One reasons] the cow is considered sacred is based on the belief that Hindus can reach heaven only after crossing a mythological river by holding the tail of a cow. Besides, the ceremony for the passage of a dead man's soul to heaven includes the donation of a cow to a Brahmin priest.

...there are thousands of tales extolling the importance of the cow. One of the most popular ones tells us about a powerful king in the ancient kingdom of Patliputra, who had everything...[except] a son, an heir to his throne. [In seeking an answer to why he had no son, he visited a guru who lived deep in a jungle. This guru] informed the king, "once while you were returning from the temple after saying your prayers you ignored a Kamdhenu cow standing outside the temple. That cow had magical powers. Now, if you are to beget a son, you will have to look after a cow."

[The king and his wife did so diligently for days on end.] A day came, when while grazing, a tiger attacked the cow. Seeing this, the king was shattered. He folded his hands before the tiger and requested it to leave the cow alone. The tiger replied, "Your Majesty, I serve Goddess Durga and must have my prey." The king fell on his knees and pleaded with the tiger to spare the cow and have his life instead. Seeing his devotion, the goddess showered the king with flowers and the cow - for it was a Holy Cow - spoke up, "My Lord, stand up. The tiger was merely an illusion created by me to test your devotion." The cow then asked the king and the queen to drink some milk as a sacred offering and within a year they were blessed with a son...

...the cow occupies pride of place. So much so, that even today there are scores of organizations devoted to 'cow protection'. Only recently, many of these groups have joined hands to demand from the government that India's national animal, the tiger, be replaced by the cow! In years to come the authorities may well be cowed into submission.

[Tarun Chopra, The Holy Cow, pp 12-13, Prakash Books, 2008]