Can Hindus Drink Milk?
When a Christian is asked whether his faith permits him to drink milk, for instance, he would cite the Bible, which is the authority of his religion. Similarly, to the Muslim, everything concerning his life and living, comes from the Quran, which he believes had been inspired by God.
In the same fashion, the answer to "Can Hindus Drink Milk?" should, and ought to only, come from the authority, i.e., the scriptures, viz., the Vedas, puranas, Ithihaas, or perhaps from self-realised mahatmas, the empowered souls, or people who have come in the authorised authentic lineages.
On the issue of "Hindus drinking milk", Mahabharata (Anusasana Parva) says, "No sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds and ghee (clarified butter). The very character of sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice." That is to say, one of the purposes for which cows exist is to produce milk from which ghee can be made.
In the Parva, we find, "Cows have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They represent sacrifice itself. Without them, there can be no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced therefrom, they uphold all creatures by diverse acts. Cows are guileless in their behaviour. From them flow sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds and ghee. hence cows are sacred. Vyasa says, "Cows are sacred. They are embodiments of merit. They are high and most efficacious cleansers of all. .....For the next three days one should drink the hot milk of the cow. Having thus drunk for three days hot milk, one should next drink hot ghee for three days. Having in this way drunk hot ghee for three days, one should subsist for the next three days on air only."
Vasishtha says, "By bathing in water mixed with cow-dung, people shall become sanctified.... Cows are the best Havi for the deities. The Mantras called Swaha and Vashat are forever established in cows. Sacrifices are established in the cows. Cows constitute the fruit of sacrifices.Cows are the future and the past, and Sacrifices rest on them. Morning and evening cows yield unto the Rishis, Havi for use in Homa......Cows are the mothers of the universe."
The final words on drinking milk comes from Bheeshmadev who assures us that, "Cows are the mothers of the universe. The human infant is fed breast milk by its human mother for under three years. After weaning, the cow acts as the surrogate mother providing milk for the rest of the human life-through childhood, adult age and old age. Cow is verily the mother of the world."
Therefore, it is not wrong or bad karma to drink the milk of cows. In point of fact, Swami Haridoss, the direct disciple of Sri Gnanananda, has even said that we are relieving the cow of its burden and pain when we drink her milk.
A Vashnavite, Srila Praubupada, on the point of Hindus' drinking milk has said: "For the human beings Kṛṣṇa has given so many nice things to eat - grains, fruits, milk, and so on.
"The cow produces milk abundantly, not for herself but for human beings. That is proper human food. God says, 'Mrs. Cow, although you are producing milk, you cannot drink it. It is for the human beings, who are more advanced than animals.' Of course, in the infant stage animals live off their mother's milk, so the calves drink some of the cow's milk. But the cow gives excess milk, and that excess is specifically meant for us.
"We should accept whatever God has ordained as our proper food. But no, because of the agitation of the tongue, we think, 'Why should I be satisfied eating grains, milk products, vegetables, and fruit? Let me maintain a slaughterhouse and kill these cows. After drinking their milk, just as I drank my mother's milk, let me kill them to satisfy my tongue.' You shouldn't think such nonsense but should hear from the dhīras, or svāmīs, who have controlled their senses. A svāmī, or gosvāmī, is one who has control over the six agitations: the speech, the mind, anger, the tongue, the belly, and the genitals." (pgs. 39-40, The Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice by Srila Prabhupada).
On the issue of "Hindus drinking milk", Mahabharata (Anusasana Parva) says, "No sacrifice can be performed without the aid of curds and ghee (clarified butter). The very character of sacrifice which sacrifices have, depends upon ghee. Hence ghee (or, the cow from which it is produced) is regarded as the very root of sacrifice." That is to say, one of the purposes for which cows exist is to produce milk from which ghee can be made.
In the Parva, we find, "Cows have been said to be the limbs of sacrifice. They represent sacrifice itself. Without them, there can be no sacrifice. With their milk and the Havi produced therefrom, they uphold all creatures by diverse acts. Cows are guileless in their behaviour. From them flow sacrifices and Havya and Kavya, and milk and curds and ghee. hence cows are sacred. Vyasa says, "Cows are sacred. They are embodiments of merit. They are high and most efficacious cleansers of all. .....For the next three days one should drink the hot milk of the cow. Having thus drunk for three days hot milk, one should next drink hot ghee for three days. Having in this way drunk hot ghee for three days, one should subsist for the next three days on air only."
The final words on drinking milk comes from Bheeshmadev who assures us that, "Cows are the mothers of the universe. The human infant is fed breast milk by its human mother for under three years. After weaning, the cow acts as the surrogate mother providing milk for the rest of the human life-through childhood, adult age and old age. Cow is verily the mother of the world."
Therefore, it is not wrong or bad karma to drink the milk of cows. In point of fact, Swami Haridoss, the direct disciple of Sri Gnanananda, has even said that we are relieving the cow of its burden and pain when we drink her milk.
A Vashnavite, Srila Praubupada, on the point of Hindus' drinking milk has said: "For the human beings Kṛṣṇa has given so many nice things to eat - grains, fruits, milk, and so on.
"The cow produces milk abundantly, not for herself but for human beings. That is proper human food. God says, 'Mrs. Cow, although you are producing milk, you cannot drink it. It is for the human beings, who are more advanced than animals.' Of course, in the infant stage animals live off their mother's milk, so the calves drink some of the cow's milk. But the cow gives excess milk, and that excess is specifically meant for us.
There are misguided and misinformed people, who have been vastly and unjustifiably influenced and brainwashed by organisations like Peta, hold the misconceived and unscientific notion that it is wrong to drink milk. They even go as far as to assert that cows stand to suffer because we drink their milk, and that therefore true vegetarians should not drink milk. They are not only thoroughly wrong in terms of their reasoning but they are also ignorant of the Hindu scriptures and modern science. In summary, they are anything but Hindus.
Summary of the above in Tamil: பால் குடிப்பது தவறு என்று நினைக்கும் தவறான சில நபர்கள் உள்ளனர். நாம் பால் அருந்துவதால் மாடுகள் பாதிக்கப்படுகின்றன என்று அவர்கள் தவறாக நினைக்கிறார்கள்.
சைவ உணவு உண்பவர்கள் பால் குடிக்கக்கூடாது என்றும் அவர்கள் நினைக்கிறார்கள். அவை முற்றிலும் தவறானவை. அவர்களுக்கு நம் வேதத்தையும் அறிவியலையும் பற்றி தெரியாதா காரணத்தால் இத்தகைய எண்ணங்களை வைத்திருக்கின்றனர்.
Comments
Post a Comment