Sacred Cow in India - 2799 Words

18 Indias sacred cow MARVIN HARRIS Other peoples religious practices and beliefs may often appear to be wasteful. They seem to involve a large expenditure of scarce resources on ritual; they contain taboos that restrict the use of apparently useful materials. Their existence seems irrational in the face of ecological needs. One example that many cite in support of this viewpoifJt is the religious proscription on the slaughter of cattle in India. How can people permit millions of cattle to roam about eating, but uneaten, in a land so continuously threatened by food shortages and starvation? In this article, Marvin Harris challenges the view that religious value is ecologically irrational. Dealing with the Indian case, he argues that†¦show more content†¦Thereafter, the cow taboo assumed its modern form and began to function much as it does today. The place of the cow in modern India is every place - on posters, in the movies, in brass figures, in stone and wood carvings, on the streets, in the fields. The cow is a symbol of health and abundance. It provides the milk that Indians consume in the form of yogurt and ghee (clarified butter), which contribute subtle flavors to much spicy Indian food. This, perhaps, is the practical role of the cow, but cows provide less than half the milk produced in India. Most cows in India are not dairy breeds. In most regions, when an Indian farmer wants a steady, high-quality source of milk he usually invests in a female water buffalo. In India the water buffalo is the specialized dairy breed because its milk has a higher butterfat content than zebu milk. Although the farmer milks his zebu cows, the milk is merely a by-product. . More vital than zebu milk to South Asian farmers are zebu calves. Male calves are especially valued because from bulls come oxen, which are the mainstay of the Indian agricultural system. Small, fast oxen drag wooden plows through late-spring fields when monsoons have dampened the dry, cracked earth. After harvest, the oxen break the grain from the stalk by stomping through mounds of cut wheat and rice. For rice cultivation in irrigated fields, the male water buffalo is preferred (it pulls better in deep mud), but for most otherShow MoreRelatedThe books and materials used in data collection acted as the source of information for writing the1200 Words   |  5 Pagesthe people of India live their life. The India’s religion, dance, language, food and architecture differ from place to place in the country. The culture is an amalgamation of different cultures that is found across the Indian subcontinent (Prakash 2005). The country is the birth place of many of the religious beliefs such as Sikhism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. There are substantial linguistic, cultural, regional and religion variations in the country. The description of culture in India is based on as sertionsRead MoreCultural Differences in India659 Words   |  3 PagesHead: Cultural Differences in India Cultural Differences in India Cultural Differences in India India is a unique country. Home to close to a billion people, it boasts a rich cultural history spanning over 4 millennia. Indias vast geographical coverage features all kinds of different terrain; from the cold, magnificent peaks and valleys of Kashmir to the hot, barren lands of Jacobabad. With such terrain comes a culture so vast that it is almost impossible to define. India possesses an array of differentRead MoreEssay about Evaluating Societies Culture by Norms, Values, and Laws1076 Words   |  5 PagesAlmost every society participates in a unique culture that cannot be accurately judged without acquiring viewpoints from the individual’s in it. While reading the article India’s Sacred Cow by Marvin Harris (1978) I was able to gain insight about the Hindu people and their reasons for â€Å"worshipping† the â€Å"sacred cows† (Harris, 1978). According to the textbook Sociology Thirteenth Edition by Richard T. Schaefer, â€Å"through cultural realis m, or the sincere attempt to understand an individual’s cultureRead MoreThe Twentieth Century : Cannibals And Kings ( 1977 ) By Marvin Harris And Coming Of Age1297 Words   |  6 Pagesproblematic by some, especially in relation to his discussion of sacred cows in India (Freed and Freed 1981: 715). Harris argues that cows are venerated in India due to the victory of, â€Å"reproductive of productive forces† (Harris 1991: 229. By this he means that cows are not seen as sacred because of a religious belief, but instead because they are required, along with oxen, to plow the fields (ibid: 220). Therefore the sacredness of cows arose as a way of negating any temptation to eat their meat, becauseRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem My Mother Breed By Anita Desai1701 Words   |  7 Pagesnourish the human psyche with the inspiration to pursue individuality and independence. Patriarchal contaminations of societies submerge the unifying realm of female emancipation; masculine sovereignty suffocates the woman’s voice in the silence of the sacred seas. Secular literature documents the exclusion of the female gender in a cultural mosaic that recognizes the alliance between water and women. Post-colonial fiction, including Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Anita Desai’s Clear Light of DayRead MoreThe Complexities of Hinduism803 Words   |  4 Pagesspiritual harmony with nature. Nature is not seen as a threat but as a peaceful force. Cows are considered sacred. Hindus are forbidden to slaughter these animals for food. The Hindu’s sanctity of nature is perplexing. If the nature of the world is just an illusion, why venerate cows? The nature of the world for Hindu’s is mysterious, confusing, and pessimistic. The practical outcomes of Hinduism have left India in shambles. Because of their strict caste system, many lower class citizens are forcedRead MoreTen Sacred Objects768 Words   |  4 PagesTen Sacred Objects Michelle Sanders Hum/105 August 1, 2013 Greg Jorge Ten Sacred Objects 1.) Fish are a symbol of luck in China. In fact, it’s traditional to serve fish at New Year’s dinner. The word fish, â€Å"Yu†, sounds like the word â€Å"wish† or â€Å"abundance† in Cantonese and Mandarin. 2.) Cows have long been sacred in India. They are protected animals under the Hindu religion. Hindus do not eat beef. In fact, most rural Indian families have at least one dairy cow which isRead MoreFollowers of Hinduism1038 Words   |  5 Pagesand the different time periods. Hindus practice strict religious beliefs and customs. Hinduism consists of a 1,000 religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 B.C. Followers of Hinduism are known as Hindus. Hindus live their lives by following the religious guidance of the Vedic scripture. The Hindu scriptures consist of two sacred types of writing: the Shruti and the Smriti. The Shruti is heard, while the Smriti is memorized. Before being recorded, these scriptures were passed downRead MoreHinduism Was One Of The Religions That I Found To Be Most1456 Words   |  6 Pagestime that have shaped other religions that branched off from it. Hinduism is an ancient religion that was founded near 1,500 B.C. It is a religion that has perceiver through many different times of persecution and its one enemy time. It originated in India which is what many Indus people originated. Most Hindus worship Shiva, Vishnu or the Goddess Devi but there are many other minor people they worship. The main god that they all worship is Brahman and they believe that every living thing with a soulRead MoreReligion and Violence Essay examples1081 Words   |  5 Pagesshape d and changed religious practices within Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. There have also been many generalisations about the above traditions. Moreover I will try and answer why non violence has become a generalisation and how it has impacted India as a whole. â€Å"The trauma of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which were quickly interpreted as religious as well as political phenomena, provoked yet another body of studies. On the other hand