QnA with Sri Sri

QnA with Sri Sri
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014

Q: Tell us about the importance of safeguarding cow.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The act of safeguarding the cows is one of our most important divine duties. See, all that is noble and virtuous begins with the sound ‘Ga’, such as Guru, Gyaan(knowledge), Gita, Ganga, Gati (progress), Gaman (to move towards one’s ultimate destination), etc. And it is our duty to honour them all.
When people take a tour of the Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore, the Gaushala is an important part of the bus tour. In the Ashram we currently have 300 cows. You will find that wherever there are large Ashrams, there they will surely have cows being raised in a good environment. So the safe-keeping of cows is an important and integral part of our lives. You all should keep visiting the Gaushala and feed the cows here when you come.
The word ‘Gau‘ has four meanings: Jnaana (knowledge), Gaman (to progress), Praapti (to receive) and Moksha (liberation). A cow provides all four of these. Cow’s milk helps to sharpen the mind and the intellect. The milk from the Indian cows has a very unique protein component in it that helps enhance one’s intelligence. Then the next is Gaman - meaning to progress. All the other products that a cow gives us help in moving ahead in our day to day lives. So a cow is the one that provides us with all four of these. We should pay attention to this and honour the cow.
We should continue to appeal to the Government of India to bring an end to cow slaughter. See, just by offering worship and bowing down before a cow will not help. You must truly serve the cow. Usually what we do is garland the cow and perform a pooja by lighting a camphor lamp and showing it to the cow. This is not right, because it scares the cow. So you must truly serve the cow. Your life should blossom fully with these four things – Daya (Mercy), Karuna (Compassion), Sahanshilta (Tolerance) and Shanti (Peace).What good is a heart that cannot feel the pain of others? Such a heart can only bring pain and violence to others.

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