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India's Sacred Cows
Term Paper ID:37504
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Essay Subject:
This paper looks at the cultural materialist approach to India's sacred cows It looks ...... More...
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3 Pages / 675 Words
1 sources, 6 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
This paper looks at the cultural materialist approach to India's sacred cows. It looks at how the cows are treated and why, their economic significance, the prospects if they were no longer protected from slaughter, and how things may change in the future.
Paper Introduction:
The Hindu\'s refuse to eat beef and the cow is considered sacred Harris It is forbidden to kill a cow in the Hindu religion Althoughthis may seem extreme there are many sensible explanations which explainhow this prohibition probably arose Farmers in India depend on oxen forplanting harvesting and threshing their crops They also use oxen fortransportation pulling carts holding people or goods Cows are needed toproduce bulls and oxen and therefore need to be protected Cows alsoprovide milk although most milk Indians
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Pelto. No doubt it would pay off in the long run, butin the meantime, many people would have to be displaced from their farms toallow for the development of breeding farms. Cows alsoprovide milk, although most milk Indians use comes from the water buffalo,which produces a milk with a higher fat content. They are allowedto eat the meat, so are given a treat they would not otherwise be able toafford (Harris). 113-118. Nutritional Anthropology. It returns 17 percent of the energy putinto it compared to 4 percent for American cattle. The cow is a very energy efficient animal when onetakes into consideration the energy which has to be put into the system interms of food, and the energy which is returned in terms of milk, dung,meat, leather, offspring and work. Some farmers turn their cows loose in times ofdrought, and they are rounded up and kept in a local field. One would think thatit did not make sense economically, but the cows of India have been shownto be more economical than those of the United States. Male calves are particularly valuablebecause they become oxen, which are indispensable to farming. Oxen are usually better treated than cows because they are the onesthe farmer depends on the most for all his farming chores (Harris). If he loses his cow, he cannot produceanymore oxen. Goodman, Darna L. Farmers in India depend on oxen forplanting, harvesting, and threshing their crops. Althoughthis may seem extreme, there are many sensible explanations which explainhow this prohibition probably arose. The prohibition against beef eating inhibits farmers from slayingcows when they haven't enough feed for the oxen and cows as well, soprovides insurance that once the drought is over, the farmer will onceagain have a productive cow. A sick cow is similarly placed in the field because it may recover and beable to produce offspring again. The problem is thescarcity of arable land in India, and the scarcity of land available toraise such herds of cattle. It has been arguedthat there are much more productive ways of breeding cows and oxenavailable now, and they could lead to healthier, stronger oxen, which couldwork harder and therefore could be shared between farmers, reducing theoutright need for the numbers of oxen needed now. Dufour and Gretel H. If a farmerloses his oxen, he cannot farm. It feeds on the mostmeager leavings after harvest or the dry plants along the sides of roads,so feed costs are minimal. It is a very inexpensive and efficient fuel,which burns slowly and is good for cooking the rice meals which are cookedslowly over dung fires. They also use oxen fortransportation, pulling carts holding people or goods. 2 . Theoretically, the idea of sacred, untouchable cows in India, roamingthe streets, and eating precious food resources where so many live on theverge of starvation, seems counterproductive, yet studies of the economicsof cows and oxen have shown it not to be so (Harris). Eds. There will no doubt come a time when modern methods will arrive inIndia, and with the increasing urbanization taking place there, the presentsituation of individual, small, family-owned farms will become a thing ofthe past, as it has almost in America and other industrialized countries.Then perhaps the attitude to the sacred cow will change. Cows are needed toproduce bulls and oxen, and therefore need to be protected. It is forbidden to kill a cow in the Hindu religion. Works CitedHarris, Marvin. It is, after all,a relatively recent tradition, and born of a need which may soon be in thepast. Oxen and cows also produce dung, which is used for cooking andheating the home (Harris). The Indiangovernment maintains homes for barren cows until they recover, and if thecow appears to be giving milk, or is pregnant, the farmer will reclaim it. Alan H. Christians and Muslims are not prohibited from eating themeat, so they can buy cows or bulls from the farmer and have themslaughtered for meat. When a cow dies, the untouchable caste take it away and skin it,tanning the hide for leather, or taking it to a tannery. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company. Cows are allowed to roam through the streets in India and eat fruitsand other goods at outdoor markets, particularly in times of drought whenfeed is scarce (Harris). The Hindu's refuse to eat beef, and the cow is considered sacred(Harris). When thedrought is over, they can be reclaimed by their owners. Intimes of food shortages, the oxen get fed preferentially over the cows, butthe cows are rarely allowed to die, because they are the source of moreoxen, or replacement oxen if anything happens to the ones the farmer hasalready.
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