Krishna Consciousness & Ecological Awareness


They Call it Mellow Yellow?
September 30, 2009, 10:08 am
Filed under: Cow Protection
Does your Pepsi lack pep? Is your Coke not the real thing? India’s Hindu nationalist movement apparently has the answer: a new soft drink made from cow urine.

By Matthias Williams, Reuters
NEW DELHI – A hardline Hindu organization, known for its opposition to “corrupting” Western food imports, is planning to launch a new soft drink made from cow’s urine, often seen as sacred in parts of India.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or National Volunteer Corps, said the bovine beverage is undergoing laboratory tests for the next 2 to 3 months but did not give a specific date for its commercial release.

The flavor is not yet known, but the RSS said the liquid produced by Hinduism’s revered holy cows is being mixed with products such as aloe vera and gooseberry to fight diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Many Hindus consider cow urine to have medicinal properties and it is often drunk in religious festivals.
(more…)

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India to boost beef production
June 30, 2009, 10:08 am
Filed under: Cow Protection, Environmental Politics, Morality
Article found at meatinternational.com.

Indian beef production is predicted to increase by 5% in 2009.  This is reported to be due to strong export demand and rising domestic consumption (ZMP and Brazilian Meat Monitor).

According to reports, production of mainly buffalo meat is set to rise to approximately 2.7 million tonnes. Around a third of production (850,000 tonnes) is predicted to be exported, mainly to South East Asia and the Gulf states.  In such markets where Australian and Indian product co-exist, Australian beef faces considerable price competition from Indian buffalo beef.

There is major potential for India to significantly increase production because of the current low level of technology across the supply chain.  Currently, India is considered the world’s third biggest beef exporter in terms of volume, behind Brazil and Australia.
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SACRED COW
May 30, 2009, 1:08 am
Filed under: Cow Protection, Morality, Religion

by Robin Winter, Archaeology Online

Cow

The world over, the term “sacred cow” has come to mean any stubborn loyalty to a long-standing institution which impedes natural progress. The term originates in India, where the cow is said to be literally worshiped, while thousands of humans suffer from undernourishment. The common, popular view of India in the West is that of an underdeveloped nation steeped in superstition. Overpopulated, overcrowded, undereducated, and bereft of most modern amenities, India is seen to be a backward nation in many respects by “progressive” Western civilization. “If only India would abandon her religious superstitions and kill and eat the cow!” Over several decades many attempts have been made by the “compassionate” West to alleviate unfortunate India’s burden of poor logic, and to replace her superstitions with rational thinking.

Much of the religious West finds common ground with the rationalists, with whom they otherwise are usually at odds, on the issue of India’s “sacred cow.” Indeed, worshiping God is one thing, but to worship the cow while at the same time dying of starvation is a theological outlook much in need of reevaluation. Man is said to have dominion over the animals, but it would appear that the Indians have it backwards.

Popular opinion is not always the most informed opinion; in fact, this is usually the case. The many attempts to wean India from the nipple of her outdated pastoral culture have all failed. After 200 years of foreign occupation by the British, and after many subsequent but less overt imperialistic attempts, we find that although India has changed, the sacred cow remains as sacred as ever. In all but two Indian states, cow slaughter is strictly prohibited. If legislation were passed today to change that ruling, there would be rioting all over India. In spite of considerable exposure to Western ideas, one late Indian statesman said, when asked what he thought of Western civilization, “I think it is a good idea. When will they begin?”

An unbiased look at perhaps the longest-standing culture of the world, its roots and philosophy, may help us to see things a little more as they are — even about our own way of life. Sometimes we have to stand back to get the full picture. It is a natural tendency to consider one’s own way the best, but such bull-headedness may cause us to miss seeing our own shortcomings. An honest look at the headlines of our home town newspaper may inspire us to question exactly what it is we are so eager to propound. (more…)

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A Verse from Srimad Bhagavatam
March 30, 2008, 12:58 am
Filed under: Cow Protection, Environmental Politics, Vedic Ecology

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.1 

TRANSLATION
by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Suta Gosvāmī said: After reaching that place, Maharaja Pariksit observed that a lower-caste sudra, dressed like a king, was beating a cow and a bull with a club, as if they had no owner.

PURPORT

The principal sign of the age of Kali Yuga is that lower-caste śūdras, i.e., men without brahminical culture and spiritual initiation, will be dressed like administrators or kings, and the principal business of such non-ksatriya rulers will be to kill the innocent animals, especially the cows and the bulls, who shall be unprotected by their masters, the bona fide vaiśyas, the mercantile community. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.44), it is said that the vaiśyas are meant to deal in agriculture, cow protection and trade. In the age of Kali, the degraded vaiśyas, the mercantile men, are engaged in supplying cows to slaughterhouses. The kṣatriyas are meant to protect the citizens of the state, whereas the vaiśyas are meant to protect the cows and bulls and utilize them to produce grains and milk. The cow is meant to deliver milk, and the bull is meant to produce grains. But in the age of Kali, the sudra class of men are in the posts of administrators, and the cows and bulls, or the mothers and the fathers, unprotected by the vaiśyas, are subjected to the slaughterhouses organized by the sudra administrators.

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A Verse from The Srimad Bhagavatam
March 24, 2008, 6:39 pm
Filed under: Cow Protection

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.10.4

TRANSLATION
by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada

During the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk.

PURPORT

The basic principle of economic development is centered on land and cows. The necessities of human society are food grains, fruits, milk, minerals, clothing, wood, etc. One requires all these items to fulfill the material needs of the body. Certainly one does not require flesh and fish or iron tools and machinery. During the regime ofMaharaja Yudhisthira , all over the world there were regulated rainfalls. Rainfalls are not in the control of the human being. The heavenly King Indradeva is the controller of rains, and he is the servant of the Lord. When the Lord is obeyed by the king and the people under the king’s administration, there are regulated rains from the horizon, and these rains are the causes of all varieties of production on the land. Not only do regulated rains help ample production of grains and fruits, but when they combine with astronomical influences there is ample production of valuable stones and pearls. Grains and vegetables can sumptuously feed a man and animals, and a fatty cow delivers enough milk to supply a man sumptuously with vigor and vitality. If there is enough milk, enough grains, enough fruit, enough cotton, enough silk and enough jewels, then why do the people need cinemas, houses of prostitution, slaughterhouses, etc.? What is the need of an artificial luxurious life of cinema, cars, radio, flesh and hotels? Has this civilization produced anything but quarreling individually and nationally? Has this civilization enhanced the cause of equality and fraternity by sending thousands of men into a hellish factory and the war fields at the whims of a particular man?

It is said here that the cows used to moisten the pasturing land with milk because their milk bags were fatty and the animals were joyful. Do they not require, therefore, proper protection for a joyful life by being fed with a sufficient quantity of grass in the field? Why should men kill cows for their selfish purposes? Why should man not be satisfied with grains, fruits and milk, which, combined together, can produce hundreds and thousands of palatable dishes. Why are there slaughterhouses all over the world to kill innocent animals? Mahārāja Parīksit, grandson of Maharaja Yudhisthira, while touring his vast kingdom, saw a black man attempting to kill a cow. The King at once arrested the butcher and chastised him sufficiently. Should not a king or executive head protect the lives of the poor animals who are unable to defend themselves? Is this humanity? Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity and nonviolence?

Therefore, in contrast with the modern, advanced, civilized form of government, an autocracy like Maharaja Yudhisthira’s is by far superior to a so-called democracy in which animals are killed and a man less than an animal is allowed to cast votes for another less-than-animal man.

We are all creatures of material nature. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that the Lord Himself is the seed-giving father and material nature is the mother of all living beings in all shapes. Thus mother material nature has enough foodstuff both for animals and for men, by the grace of the Father Almighty,Sri Krishna . The human being is the elder brother of all other living beings. He is endowed with intelligence more powerful than animals for realizing the course of nature and the indications of the Almighty Father. Human civilizations should depend on the production of material nature without artificially attempting economic development to turn the world into a chaos of artificial greed and power only for the purpose of artificial luxuries and sense gratification. This is but the life of dogs and hogs.

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A Verse from The Srimad Bhagavatam
March 12, 2008, 6:33 pm
Filed under: Cow Protection

prod_mandalap_lord_of_cows.jpg

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.29

TRANSLATION by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

While herding the very beautiful bulls, the Lord, who was the reservoir of all opulence and fortune, used to blow His flute, and thus He enlivened His faithful followers, thecowherd boys.

PURPORT

As He grew to six and seven years old, the Lord was given charge of looking after the cows and bulls in the grazing grounds. He was the son of a well-to-do landholder who owned hundreds and thousands of cows, and according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. With only these two things, cows and grain, humanity can solve its eating problem. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed. Lord Krishna, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaiśyas, should herd cows and bulls and thus give protection to the valuable animals. According to smrti regulation, the cow is the mother and the bull the father of the human being. The cow is the mother becaus just as one sucks the breast of one’s mother, human society takes cow’s milk. Similarly, the bull is the father of human society because the father earns for the children just as the bull tills the ground to produce food grains. Human society will kill its spirit of life by killing the father and the mother. It is mentioned herein that the beautiful cows and bulls were of various checkered colors — red, black, green, yellow, ash, etc. And because of their colors and healthy smiling features, the atmosphere was enlivening.

Over and above all, the Lord used to play His celebrated flute. The sound vibrated by His flute would give His friends such transcendental pleasure that they would forget all the talks of the brahmananda which is so praised by the impersonalists. These cowherd boys, as will be explained by Shukadeva Gosvāmī, were living entities who had accumulated heaps of pious acts and thus were enjoying with the Lord in person and were hearing His transcendental flute. The Brahma-saḿhitā (5.30) confirms the Lord’s blowing His transcendental flute.

Brahmājī said, “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who plays on His transcendental flute. His eyes are like lotus flowers, He is decorated with peacock plumes, and His bodily color resembles a fresh black cloud although His bodily features are more beautiful than millions of cupids.” These are the special features of the Lord.

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A Verse from The Srimad Bhagavatam
February 24, 2008, 6:18 pm
Filed under: Cow Protection, Vedic Ecology

med_taur.jpg

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.16.4

nijagrāhaujasā vīrah

kalim digvijaye kvacit

nrpa-lińga-dharam śūdram

ghnantam go-mithunam padā

SYNONYMS

nijagrāha — sufficiently punished; ojasā — by prowess; vīrah — valiant hero; kalim — unto Kali, the master of the age; digvijaye — on his way to conquer the world; kvacit — once upon a time; nrpa-lińga-dharam — one who passes in the dress of a king; śūdram — the lower class; ghnantam — hurting; go-mithunam — a cow and bull; padā — on the leg.

TRANSLATION
by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Once, when Mahārāja Parīksit was on his way to conquer the world, he saw the master of Kali-yuga, who was lower than a śūdra, disguised as a king and hurting the legs of a cow and bull. The King at once caught hold of him to deal sufficient punishment.

PURPORT

The purpose of a king’s going out to conquer the world is not for self-aggrandizement. Mahārāja Parīksit went out to conquer the world after his ascendance to the throne, but this was not for the purpose of aggression on other states. He was the Emperor of the world, and all small states were already under his regime. His purpose in going out was to see how things were going on in terms of the godly state. The king, being the representative of the Lord, has to execute the will of the Lord duly. There is no question of self-aggrandizement. Thus as soon as Mahārāja Parīksit saw that a lower-class man in the dress of a king was hurting the legs of a cow and a bull, at once he arrested and punished him. The king cannot tolerate insults to the most important animal, the cow, nor can he tolerate disrespect for the most important man, the brāhmana. Human civilization means to advance the cause of brahminical culture, and to maintain it, cow protection is essential. There is a miracle in milk, for it contains all the necessary vitamins to sustain human physiological conditions for higher achievements. Brahminical culture can advance only when man is educated to develop the quality of goodness, and for this there is a prime necessity of food prepared with milk, fruits and grains. Mahārāja Parīksit was astonished to see that a black śūdra, dressed like a ruler, was mistreating a cow, the most important animal in human society.

 

The age of Kali means mismanagement and quarrel. And the root cause of all mismanagement and quarrel is that worthless men with the modes of lower-class men, who have no higher ambition in life, come to the helm of the state management. Such men at the post of a king are sure to first hurt the cow and the brahminical culture, thereby pushing all society towards hell. Mahārāja Parīksit, trained as he was, got the scent of this root cause of all quarrel in the world. Thus he wanted to stop it in the very beginning.

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A Verse from The Srimad Bhagavatam
January 24, 2008, 6:10 pm
Filed under: Cow Protection, Vedic Ecology

hathor_sky_cow.jpg

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.17.3

TRANSLATION

by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Although the cow is beneficial because one can draw religious principles from her, she was now rendered poor and calfless. Her legs were being beaten by a śūdra. There were tears in her eyes, and she was distressed and weak. She was hankering after some grass in the field.

PURPORT

The next symptom of the age of Kali is the distressed condition of the cow. Milking the cow means drawing the principles of religion in a liquid form. The great reishis and munis would live only on milk. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī would go to a householder while he was milking a cow, and he would simply take a little quantity of it for subsistence. Even fifty years ago, no one would deprive a sādhu of a quart or two of milk, and every householder would give milk like water. For a Sanātanist (a follower of Vedic principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and bulls as household paraphernalia, not only for drinking milk, but also for deriving religious principles. The Sanātanist worships cows on religious principles and respects brāhmaṇas. The cow’s milk is required for the sacrificial fire, and by performing sacrifices the householder can be happy. The cow’s calf not only is beautiful to look at, but also gives satisfaction to the cow, and so she delivers as much milk as possible. But in the Kali-yuga, the calves are separated from the cows as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The cow stands with tears in her eyes, the śūdra milkman draws milk from the cow artificially, and when there is no milk the cow is sent to be slaughtered. These greatly sinful acts are responsible for all the troubles in present society. People do not know what they are doing in the name of economic development. The influence of Kali will keep them in the darkness of ignorance. Despite all endeavors for peace and prosperity, they must try to see the cows and the bulls happy in all respects. Foolish people do not know how one earns happiness by making the cows and bulls happy, but it is a fact by the law of nature. Let us take it from the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and adopt the principles for the total happiness of humanity.

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A Verse from The Bhagavad Gita, As It Is
November 15, 2007, 1:10 am
Filed under: Cow Protection, Vedic Ecology, Vegetarianism

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is (14.1)

TRANSLATION

by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery, and action performed in the mode of ignorance results in foolishness.

PURPORT

The result of pious activities in the mode of goodness is pure. Therefore the sages, who are free from all illusion, are situated in happiness. But activities in the mode of passion are simply miserable. Any activity for material happiness is bound to be defeated. If, for example, one wants to have a skyscraper, so much human misery has to be undergone before a big skyscraper can be built. The financier has to take much trouble to earn a mass of wealth, and those who are slaving to construct the building have to render physical toil. The miseries are there. Thus Bhagavad-gita says that in any activity performed under the spell of the mode of passion, there is definitely great misery. There may be a little so-called mental happiness — “I have this house or this money” — but this is not actual happiness.

As far as the mode of ignorance is concerned, the performer is without knowledge, and therefore all his activities result in present misery, and afterwards he will go on toward animal life. Animal life is always miserable, although, under the spell of the illusory energy,maya , the animals do not understand this. Slaughtering poor animals is also due to the mode of ignorance. The animal killers do not know that in the future the animal will have a body suitable to kill them. That is the law of nature. In human society, if one kills a man he has to be hanged. That is the law of the state. Because of ignorance, people do not perceive that there is a complete state controlled by the Supreme Lord. Every living creature is a son of the Supreme Lord, and He does not tolerate even an ant’s being killed. One has to pay for it. So indulgence in animal killing for the taste of the tongue is the grossest kind of ignorance. A human being has no need to kill animals, because God has supplied so many nice things. If one indulges in meat-eating anyway, it is to be understood that he is acting in ignorance and is making his future very dark. Of all kinds of animal killing, the killing of cows is most vicious because the cow gives us all kinds of pleasure by supplying milk. Cow slaughter is an act of the grossest type of ignorance. In the Vedic literature (Ṛg Veda 9.4.64) the words gobhih prīṇita-matsaram indicate that one who, being fully satisfied by milk, is desirous of killing the cow is in the grossest ignorance. There is also a prayer in the Vedic literature that states:

namo brahmaṇya-devāya

go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca

jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya

govindāya namo namaḥ

“My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brāhmaṇas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world.” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.19.65) The purport is that special mention is given in that prayer for the protection of the cows and the brāhmaṇas. Brāhmaṇas are the symbol of spiritual education, and cows are the symbol of the most valuable food; these two living creatures, the brāhmaṇas and the cows, must be given all protection — that is real advancement of civilization. In modern human society, spiritual knowledge is neglected, and cow killing is encouraged. It is to be understood, then, that human society is advancing in the wrong direction and is clearing the path to its own condemnation. A civilization which guides the citizens to become animals in their next lives is certainly not a human civilization. The present human civilization is, of course, grossly misled by the modes of passion and ignorance. It is a very dangerous age, and all nations should take care to provide the easiest process,Krishna consciousness, to save humanity from the greatest danger.

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COWS RISE UP!
October 13, 2007, 10:35 pm
Filed under: Cow Protection

Bovines Across the Nation Unite in Call for Access to Organic Pasture, Eradication of Synthetic Hormones and a Better Day for Bovine Sisters

“The Resistance, My Sisters, Begins Now,” Spokescow Proclaims

OPEN PASTURES ACROSS THE NATION (June 04, 2007)—Cows Have the Right to Be Cows. Cows Have the Right to Graze. Cows Have the Right to Clean Air. Cows Have the Right to Dignity and Joy.

These are just a few of the rights cows nationwide are presenting as part of their agreed-upon “Bovine Bill of Rights”—a historic document found at http://www.cowsunite.org/ that is the centerpiece of “Cows Unite,” a movement unveiling afoot in which a strong affiliation of cows in pastures coast-to-coast have created to help humans understand the importance of organic dairy, decent treatment for cows and the critical role of family farmers.

Officially launching May 31, http://www.cowsunite.org/ will serve as the hub for all Cows Unite materials, gatherings, calls to action and activities. Currently, visitors can download the Bovine Bill of Rights, view two short films capturing the resistance in action and learn how they can become more involved.

In what began in recent years as a small but spreading murmuring among cows living on organic farms who were concerned about their sister bovines—coping with the effects of confinement, antibiotics, synthetic hormones and pesticides—Cows Unite has evolved in to a large-scale initiative to create change. “That change can only come from the support of conscientious milk-drinkers, and that’s why we’ve gone to mass media with our message,” said one spokescow.Cows Unite has already received support from a number of leaders in the sustainable food movement, including Organic Valley, Beyond Pesticides, Bioneers, Farm Aid, and Ecotrust. “We are most pleased with the support that our movement has received, since going public,” said the spokescow. “Our sponsors provide powerful links to the humans needed to make our dream a reality.”

To help the uprising rise higher, humans who get three others to sign up for the movement receive a variety of revolutionary cow paraphernalia, including a Cow Manifesto and a Holstein patterned “support ribbon” magnet demanding support for cows. Those who encourage even more to sign up have an opportunity to win a year’s supply of Organic Valley milk, an all expenses paid family weekend visit to an organic dairy farm, and more. Full details of activities are made available on the website for humans sympathetic to the cause.”Stay tuned for more information,” said the spokescow for Cows Unite, who wished not to have her identity disclosed. “It is time for action. It is time for organization. It is time to finally air our beefs about the way our bovine sisters are treated, about the air we breathe, the grass we eat, and the milk we produce.
“The resistance, my Sisters, begins now.”

The Bovine Bill of RightsPeople, rise up and take back your milk! We are the bovine Sisters of Cows Unite. We’re ordinary cows, except we’ve got a few serious beefs:

  • Cows have the right to be cows.Cows are not machines—we are equals in the interdependent circle of life. All our rights begin with this right.
  • Cows have the right to graze.Turn us loose to graze in pastures free of synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We will take only what we need and we will refresh the soil. You will be happier for it, too. Our milk will be delicious and delightful. Promise.
  • Cows have the right to just say no to drugs.The days of experimentation are over. Stop pushing the synthetic hormones and antibiotics! Organic is the right way for Sisters everywhere.
  • Cows have the right to dignity and joy.When we are free to move about outdoors, it’s our best opportunity for dignity, health and joy—and a chance at joy should be the right of all living things. Even dogs.
  • Cows have the right to decent help.Sure, us cows are the all-stars, but the time has come to say thanks to the little guys – the family farmers. We can’t do this alone. Fair pay for an honest day’s nurturing and care. It’s all we ask. Viva la Family Farm!
  • Cows have the right to clean air.Nothing makes us breath easier than local customers. When you choose milk from pastures close by, you reduce trucking. It’s pretty nifty. Less air pollution, less fuel used, and support for your neighboring Farmers, all from one little milk choice.

Join us.The Sisters of Cows Unite need your human help. We ask that you consider our rights and talk to your family and friends about our basic needs. Join the resistance and follow the steps outlined below.

Choose organic milk from cows whose rights are upheld.
Sign up to receive your first assignment with coupons.
Tell your friends about http://www.cowsunite.org.Thank you, Sister! Dunk in peace.

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