Why don't Hindus eat beef?

Question

I am very interested in the subject. I have read that Hindus don't eat beef because the cow is sacred and treated like a mother for producing milk, and also for producing other things like butter, cream, and it's dung is used to help farm the land. But don't we also have goat milk and cheese? And goats' dung also helps farmland.
Why would they view the cow as holy for these reasons and not the goat, too?
I hope I don't offend anyone I just honestly am very curious:)

Answer 1

The cow is viewed as the most selfless animal because she provides us with milk and does not expect much in return; similar to a mother. Since mothers are considered to be god / godlike in Hinduism, cows are also considered godlike. Eating a cow is like eating your mother (I eat beef outside my home since I'm living in a country where beef is everywhere and Hinduism has no rules against eating any kind of meat). Also, goats were never really used for milk in Ancient India as cows were. Also, in mythology, cows are considered to be an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi who represents wealth and well being. Lord Krishna was also a Vyasa, thus a protector of cows.

Answer 2

Hindus for the most part are vegetarians. I have two Hindu friends one a strict vegetarian and the other not, but he does not eat beef. The cow is sacred to them and many Hindus use cow dung and urine for a myriad of things.

Answer 3

In ancient India, oxen and bulls were sacrificed to the gods and their meat was eaten. But even then the slaughter of milk-producing cows was prohibited. Verses of the Rigveda refer to the cow as Devi (a powerful goddess), identified with Aditi (mother of the gods) herself.



Even when meat-eating was permitted, the ancient Vedic scriptures encouraged vegetarianism. One scripture says, "There is no sin in eating meat... but abstention brings great rewards."



Later, in the spiritually fertile period that produced Jainism and Buddhism, Hindus stopped eating beef. This was mostly like for practical reasons as well as spiritual. It was expensive to slaughter an animal for religious rituals or for a guest, and the cow provided an abundance of important products, including milk, browned butter for lamps, and fuel from dried dung.



Some scholars believe the tradition came to Hinduism through the influence of strictly vegetarian Jainism. But the cow continued to be especially revered and protected among the animals of India.



By the early centuries AD, the cow was designated as the appropriate gift to the brahmans (high-caste priests) and it was soon said that to kill a cow is equal to killing a brahman. The importance of the pastoral element in the Krishna stories, particularly from the 10th century onward, further reinforced the sanctity of the cow.

Answer 4

Hindus in historic circumstances ate pork, it truly is recorded interior the Pali Cannon (so I pay attention). in my opinion, the reverence for cows is in my opinion like the community American reverence for the Buffalo, Indians get a great number of stuff from cows, cows poop even makes green electrical energy! there are batteries that use the copious quantities of cow poop in India it truly is genius. Milk...in certainty each and every thing however the beef, community individuals ate Buffalo, yet additionally respected it because of the fact they have been given plenty from it. i think of although this could be a form of favoritism in Hinduism. Its no longer my place to choose as a Buddhist yet i does no longer carry one animal above yet another.

Answer 5

There are many answers to that question, as there are often in Hinduism. So, I found a website explaining it all, with references. :)



http://www.hindunet.org/srh_home/1996_10/msg00212.html

Answer 6

Cow's remind hucksterete Hindus of themselves, and they don't want to be cannibals?