Krishna Katha: Rediscovering the Holy Cow

Series: Krishna Katha

Episode 2: Rediscovering the Holy Cow

When we look at the rural economy of the world, the first thing we can observe is significance of animals in sustaining such economy be it agrarian or dairy. Considering this fact, cow is critical to the survival of farming based economy of India, where bulls not only tilted the land since ages but cows serve as an alternate source of income through dairy products and also meeting the fuel requirements of the household and neighbourhood.

In ancient times, i.e. before the advent of Islam in Bharat, whenever there was an invasion, the attackers used to claim the livestock of the region they invaded. Also on losing wars livestock were offered as compensation in addition to precious metals and gems. This clearly indicates the importance of livestock especially cow. So when the Bharatiya social heads put ban on beef, i.e. killing of cows, it was not only on the ground of religion, but also to protect the livestock of a kingdom.

Now coming to the modern world, the farmers have tractors so they don’t need bulls. But don’t they need the free bio-fuel generated from the cows? Non-conventional forms of energy are coming up to compete with fuel energy and bio-fuel produced from cow dung can play an important role in this aspect. Also there is cow urine which has been patented for several diseases like diabetes and is already in use by various pharma companies across the globe. Not detailing the enormous market of dairy products which can be conveniently accessed with the availability of processing and preservation units.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has dubbed beef as a 'climate harmful meat' due to its carbon footprint. World health Organization (WHO) has also marked read meat such as beef as a probable reason for cancer.

As a Bharatiya it is our duty to make people aware about the harmful consequences of beef eating, not to enforce Hindu rituals on others, but to protect the health, economy and environment.

Krishna Katha: Cow, the Spirit the World Once Loved

Series: Krishna Katha

Episode 1: Cow, the Spirit the World Once Loved

Hindus from North to South are only agreed on one point, viz. on not eating beef.

—Swami Vivekananda

Beef has been a taboo in India for ages to the extent that riots can happen on the issue of beef. The matter lies in the holiness of cow which is worshipped as Gaw-Mata (Mother Cow) in Bharatiya civilization. But is it only Bharat which promotes the holiness of cows? If we dig into the history of the ancient history of the civilized world such as Greece and Mesopotamia, we would be surprised to observe similar practice of bull worship.

Since the Palaeolithic period bull in the form of ‘Aurochs’ is being worshipped as they were thought to have magical qualities. Aurochs was worshipped in the Iron Age in Anatolia and the Near East. Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh depicts a key character Gugalana as the sacred Bull of Heaven, the murder of which by Gilgamesh was considered as defiance of the gods. Bulls were a central theme in the religion of Minoan civilization of Crete which is often equated to Plato’s Atlantis. The Indo-European culture of Sacred Bull remembered by the Indo-European race in Aegean basin, they worshipped their tradition beliefs on many occasions in the form of "ox-eyed" Hera with her high-priestess in cow form Io and Zeus taking form of bull in his Phoenician adventure. Dionysus, the Greek god of harvest and fertility was strongly linked to the bull. Our former neighbour Iran, during the prevalence of its Zoroastrian tradition, have several mythologies related to cow. One of these is One of these is Gavaevodata (uniquely created cow), one of Ahura Mazda's six primordial material creations that becomes the mythological progenitor of all beneficent animal life. Yet another mythological bovine is that of the unnamed creature in the Cow's Lament, an allegorical hymn attributed to Zoroaster himself. Our Parsee brothers who still follow the Zoroastrian tradition can further explore the spiritual importance imparted on cow in Zend Avesta.

However, it was with the rise of Moses as the saviour of the Hebrews, bull lost its sacred position when Moses insulted the Golden Calf made by Aaron as stated in the Torah and Bible. But even in some Christian traditions, in the Nativity scenes at Christmas time, many show a bull or an ox near the baby Jesus, lying in a manger. Traditional songs of Christmas often tell of the bull and the donkey warming the infant with their breath. In the pre-Islamic Middle East which followed the Mesopotamian culture the bull’s horns represented the crescent moon. The crescent moon of Islam is hence nothing else but the horn of bull which they consider divine though mercilessly killing the same bull thus showing defiance to their ideology of divinity i.e. Allah.

The Thesis on Intolerance - The PhD in Dramatics

In the recent times, non-NDA forces have made it their regular affairs to brand India as an intolerant nation to the extent of comparing it with ISIS.

Yes, I am referring to India because it is us Indians who have elected this government and hence we are responsible for every act of it. We have elected this government knowing its RSS background and 2002 allegations against the current Prime Minister (though these have been nullified in the court of law). We made a conscious choice. And we did it because we knew the propaganda against Sangh Parivar and BJP may not be the same as it is painted often.

I remember, when I was a child, the communists of Bengal equated RSS with terrorists after 1992 Babri incident. So as more than 1/3 of the country stands by the same RSS backed BJP, should the non-NDA forces mark 1/3 of the country as terrorists? Logic says Yes! In that case it is time, every person who voted for NDA should now taking this anti-intolerance movement as personal attack for being marked as intolerant, terrorists etc. 

Having said that, there is a need to understand what is being branded as intolerance. An incident such as Dadri was the result of lack of education which instead of attributing to the present Central Govt., should raise questions against the Congress party which ruled the country for 60 long years and the current State Govt of Samajwadi Party. As far the killings of the intellectuals are concerned, we should question - are they done by BJP or Sangh Parivaar? Had such hate crimes never happened in Congress regime? Has the Govt. at the Centre created barriers for investigative agencies or police to take their course of actions? If not why NDA is being criminalized?

Regarding Award-wapsi, there has never been such a good drama as this one and Bollywood film-makers may take inspiration from these episodes being played by scientists, authors etc. who mostly got their awards during Congress regime. Of course they are proving their loyalty or probably just frustrated that NDA regime is focusing on talents who have proven to be more productive. 

We Indians probably we don't know the meaning of intolerance. When women are raped in the middle of the road for not being converted to Islam, that is intolerance. When children are imbibed with terrorist mindset in madrasas and then sent cross-border to murder people, that is intolerance. When some people perform acts such as refusal to prasad, killing cows, etc just to insult religious sentiments of majority people in the same country, that is intolerance. When people are murdered for ethnic cleansing, that is intolerance. Such intolerance cannot be seen among the majority Indians at least.

Uniform Civil Code, abolition of madrasas and promotion of general school education, controlling polygamy, restricting birth of more than two children to a married couple, these are all necessities for people being forced to live by religious extremism and bias. Ban on Beef has been promoted by UN report as well which was published in the western media (refer to Guardian). Also there is an old saying, when in Rome, be like a Roman. As veteran Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan rightly articulated - I’d like to ask any Muslim if they’d like to live in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran or Iraq? They’d surely answer in the negative. If this is the only country you want to live in, because you feel at home, then respect this nation, respect its culture, live in harmony.

It is not surprising some of the very educated media representatives do not like to discuss these, of course understanding the fact, the media terrorism has its roots in being relatives of Congress leaders, former administrators, anti-national elements. As educated citizens of India, as we chose a visionary leader after many decades, we should also make conscious decision of banning such media terrorists in our homes. They are no better than listening to the nuisance of Hafiz Saeed or ISI agents of Pakistani channels.

As for the non-NDA political parties, they have already shown how much they are devoid of ethics and honesty by shaking hands among each other for Delhi and Bihar elections. Their immorality need not be rationalized as it is out in the open, hence I do not feel the need to write about this issue. 

In the conclusion, just touching upon a trivial issue to show the irrelevance and senselessness of  this anti-intolerance movement against NDA, I tweeted SRK on listening to his controversial interview a very simple question - what about secularism among Muslims and whether he will accept if his children become Islamic apostates. He is yet to reply.  Of course I being a common Indian, a Bollywood personality is not answerable to me but before making such callous statement about intolerance Mr. Shahrukh Khan should also prepare himself for two-way communication rather making arbitrary statements only because he is popular. The same SRK in his film Mein Hu Naa portrayed in a fictitious plot, some ex-Indian armymen as terrorists while showing Pakistanis as friend. Wow! that's awesome that man could not find any other profile for villains but ex-armymen ............... and then he says nobody cannot question his patriotism. Mr. Shahrukh Khan should know with such attitude his patriotic intentions can always be questioned by any Indian who has rational mind. To his callous statement we have every right to say - were you coached by the co-star of your new movie Raees?

Vande Mataram !

As many people those many gods

The world burns, people cry
Children killed, as hearts bleed dry
Only My Way shout children of Abraham
Gods sold on holy books' lie

When five fingers don't tie,
When human thoughts don't comply
Why do we thrust one god to all?
Why don't we let Monotheism die?

As many people, those many gods
Open up the mind, let the hearts fly
God is not matter of enforced claim
Share joy, bid intolerance goodbye !

When Constitutional Principles Insult People it Serves

I am painfully writing this letter to bring to your notice the death of a 29-year old innocent man, Prashant Poojary a florist from Mangalore, which is probably ignored because he belongs to the religion which is followed by the majority of our countrymen. Recently there has been another such death in Dadri and surprisingly both death are related to the animal, cow. One was murdered on the suspicion that he consumed beef; the other was murdered because he offered protection to cows. While whole country is mourning the death at Dadri, with intelligentsia surrendering their awards, opposition in Parliament and media crying continuously, why the Prime Minister did not deliver an hour-long speech condemning the death and did not turn the world upside down, surprisingly nobody seem to care for the death at Mangalore! The double standard and hypocrisy can only be attributed to indifference and possibly hatred of media and Parliamentary Opposition towards those living by Hindu religion and trying to protect the ancient heritage of this country. 

Prashant Poojary had been actively involved in preventing illegal cow slaughter and transportation and the murder can be suspected to be carried out by those allegedly involved in illegal cow slaughter. A hard-working, honest man, who despite being economically backward was trying to protect an illegal activity, falls prey to hooliganism of criminals. Wasn’t his life as precious as that of a soldier fighting for the country at its borders? They both try to protect the country; one protects the land, while the other was protecting the culture. While the soldier gets the glory of a hero after his death, this hero dies in oblivion, because our countrymen are indifferent but will the Government too remain indifferent? 

Why is always the Hindus victimised in this country by the media and parties who claim to be secular? Is being a Hindu a crime? Is practising Sanatan Dharma a crime? Is protecting cows which is part of Hindu religion a crime? We were victimised in Bombay, Kashmir, Ayodhya, we were attacked in (give the train name in which Kar Sevaks were burned in Gujarat), we were victimised in Muzzafarpur. We are daily victimised in Bengal while the State Govt keeps mum and media pays no heed. How long shall this torture go on? Is it till we become extinct like dinosaurs while Bharat being turned to Pakistan or Bangladesh? Why is our right to practise our religion being taken away by such religious intolerance and shameless appeasement for sheer vote-bank politics which the so-called secular parties impose? Is this constitutional to curb the right of the majority of people to make the minorities happy? Is this democracy? 

Leading English news daily, The Hindu reported on October 10, 2015 in its Mangalore edition that the victim revealed to the police the names of those who were allegedly involved in the attack. But Police refused to admit it and hided the information. As citizens of India and tax payers, can we ask WHY? We demand immediate release of the statement given by victim and the culprits be brought to justice. 

If the state governments take necessary action against illegal cow slaughters, incidents like Dadri would cease to happen. When the state machineries allow some people to insult the religious sentiments of the public at large, hatred and intolerance are bound penetrate the society. The death of Late Prashant Poojary should be treated not only as a murder but a crime committed with the intention of communal violence and provoking communal tension. 

We demand the State Home Minister of Karnataka, to take up the matter and give public statement that such an incident will not be dealt with any form of callousness. We the people of India demand justice for Prashant Poojary and a strong message from both the state government that such crimes will invite strong punishment not only for the criminals but also on those belonging to the community who are supportive of activities such as illegal slaughtering of cows which is the core reason of this murder.

A peace-loving Bharatiya 

This sounds like God exists !

Counter: The amount of energy in the universe is always constant as per Law of Conservation of Energy.

Favour: But the observable universe is an open system. An open system can exchange both energy and matter. Thus there can be reduction in energy. So can we say God exists as far as observable universe is concerned?

Transfer of Energy is possible in Closed system too though not possible in Isolated System

The law of conservation of energy and law of conservation of information are applicable to a system only if it is isolated. The entire universe, meaning everything there is, including things we cannot see, is an isolated system because it has no "surroundings"; it's literally everything there is. Obviously, a system cannot exchange energy or matter with "surroundings" that do not exist. But if there are no surroundings then to what the Universe is expanding?  

Counter: Space is being created as it is expanding.
Nasadiya Suktam, RV 10.129 implies the same that space is created when it says "नास॑दासी॒न्नो सदा॑सीत्त॒दानी॒म् नासी॒द्रजो॒ नो व्यो॑मा प॒रो यत्।" - Neither existence nor nonexistence was there Neither matter nor space around

Favour: Then how can the system be isolated or closed? Where is the creation of space happening?

Counter: May be there are multi-verses. It may still be closed.

Favour: But not Isolated. and Closed system can transfer energy. 

Conclusion: If Universe is an open system or a closed system then it can lose energy. Thus there can be a decrease in energy. The conscious being causing order out of disorder by spending energy is a possible analogy. This analogy is not applicable in isolated system but universe cannot be an isolated system since it is expanding and new space is created. 

Thus with the second law of thermodynamics it may be concluded a conscious being causes order in the universe.

      

Spacetime explained in Nasadiya Sukta of Rig Veda before Einstein's General Relativity Theory

ति॒र॒श्चीनो॒ वित॑तो र॒श्मिरे॑षाम॒धः स्वि॑दा॒सी ३ दु॒परि॑ स्विदासी ३ त्।
 रे॒तो॒धा आ॑सन्महि॒मान॑ आसन्त्स्व॒धा आ॒वस्ता॒त्प्रय॑तिः प॒रस्ता॑त्॥५॥

Reins of the link, a grid of crisscross lines,
Holds all the seeds and mighty forces, Microcosmic forces within And macro forces out above. (5) Rig Veda 10th Mandala, 129th Hymn

Now imagine the two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional analogy of spacetime curvature described in general relativity.

Spacetime: space and time should be considered together and in relation to each other - grid of crisscross lines, holding all the seeds and mighty forces - Gravity, EM, Strong and Weak Forces, (Dark Matter & Dark Energy ?).

Does that ring a bell?

Banglar paatraani Mamata
Tomar ki asheem Khamota
Bhashche desh jolche Janata
Ghashphule eki Kata
Shamle nao ei Maarongatha
Bhulona purboshurir katha
Manush jokhon korbe bichaar
Thakbe na aar voter Chhata