Camp Gagnon - Do Hindus Worship Cows?

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

🚨 Make Sure To Rate Us 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟Why does this religion praise cows? What are their divine connections to humans and spirits? Welcome to Religion Camp⛺!Shoutout to our sponsor: Ground NewsGounds News: https://ground.news/gagnon 👕🧢 GET YOUR CAMP DRIP HERE: https://campgoods.co/🏕️ Get The Daily Today In History Email Here (Free): https://camp.beehiiv.com/Timestamps:0:00 Hinduism Shouldn’t Be Called “Hinduism”5:05 Vaishnavites Reverence For Cows12:14 Christos Questions Cows Gender + Govardhana Puja14:40 Shaivism + Cow Beauty Pageants21:40 Shaktism’s Genie Like Cow “Kamadhenu”28:30 Durga Puja + Cow Adoption31:09 Smartism’s Respect For Cows38:02 Cow Tipping + What Happens When Cows Die?42:20 Swaminarayan + Cow Spas45:29 What’s Your Favorite Denomination?

Do Hindus worship cows? Gopashami, where devotees go all out celebrating Krishna's coronation as the king of the cows, commemorating when Krishna lifted a whole mountain to protect cows and cow herders from Indra's fury. The Nandi, this is the bull vehicle, you could say, the vessel of Shiva himself. During the famous Durga Puja festivals, you'll see cows being worshipped alongside the goddess decked out in red saries and golden ornaments. The five products of the cow, milk, curd, ghee, urine, and dung, represent the five faces of Shiva himself, the Arya Samaj. They argue that treating cows as deities actually diminishes their practical importance.

So we are going to dive into this idea, probably one of the biggest religious misconceptions of all time, that Hindus worship cows. What's up, people, and welcome back to Religion Camp. Yes, this is a show where I sit here in my wonderful little tent, and I explore the most interesting, fascinating, controversial stories from all religions from around the world, from all ages. That's right. And today we're going

to the South Asian subcontinent to a tiny little country of a billion people called India because we are going to dive in to the question of do Hindus worship cows?

My name is Mark Gagnon today. I'm joined by my friend Christos and also my friend Gabe in the back. What's up, Gabe? Christos, how are you? What's going on, everybody?

I just want to make a shout out to the Hindus. Thank you guys so much for tuning the last episode, we've gotten some great feedback. I actually got a piece of feedback that I thought was quite funny when we were discussing all the different subdivisions and denominations of Hinduism. Apparently, some Hindus don't even like the term Hinduism. You ever heard this? This came from a comment, RC779, 56 seconds ago. So I have no idea if it's true. Never fact checked it. He basically

said, Hinduism is a name given by European slash Persians. I'm going to blame the Persians for this one. As someone of European descent, the Persians are taking the blame. Hindu is a name after the Sindhu River. Persians couldn't pronounce the S, which is kind of funny. They were having trouble with the pronunciation, even though they have an S

in their name. They couldn't pronounce the S, so they called it the Indus River. So it had nothing to do with religion necessarily, and so the Indus River is what they changed the Sindus to, and eventually decided to call the religion followed by

Hindus, aka Sindus, as Hinduism. Hindus were just the name of the inhabitants of the area given by Persians. The actual name of the religion is Sanatan Darm, as we talked about last week. It's also said to be brought to the Indian subcontinent by Indo-Arians who came from Central Asia. The ancient polytheistic religions of the Slavs and Russians are also similar to Sanatan Darm because of Senatan Darm is derived from them. So there you go.

Apparently you shouldn't even say Hindu. Supposed to say Sanatan Darm. What I got from that is he should be sitting where I'm sitting. Yes. Oh, for sure. I mean, there are about a billion other Hindus that should be sitting where you're sitting. But instead, we got this just this Greek. I don't even know.

Are you even religious? This guy doesn't even believe in a god or anything. I believe in many gods. I'm surrounded by just the heathens, okay? But have you heard the stereotype that Hindus worship cows? Have you heard this before? Yes. I've heard a couple different explanations.

I don't know where this even started, probably from the same. the Simpsons or something. But I've heard that it's because like, oh, if you believe in reincarnation, your grandma could be a cow so you don't kill cows and that's why they don't eat beef. Can't her grandma be

a cockroach? Whoa, what the hell, dude? Why do you think someone's grandma's going to be a cockroach? Think she's just a nope, don't believe it. Believe that loud and proud that you think all Indian grandmothers are going to be cockroaches. I mean, that's disgusting and despicable. I don't think that. But they could be chickens. Or

They could be bald eagles. I don't even know if they have those over in India. What else? There could be many other things, many other beautiful animals, maybe like a wild lion. But yet, Hindus would probably eat a lion. Possibly. We've got to look into that, actually. I don't know.

Do Hindus eat lions? Can you Google that, Gabe? Just find out for me. So we are going to dive into this idea, probably one of the biggest religious misconceptions of all time, that Hindus worship cows. This is like saying, like Christians worship, like a wooden cross. You see crosses everywhere. You see Christians wearing cross on their neck. Oh, they must worship a cross.

Or like Muslims worship a black cube. They're spinning around that thing all the time. They must worship it. Not the case. What? Is that bad to say? I don't know the context. So, yeah.

Of the Cobb? Of the black cube? Yeah. I mean, you see a video. They're walking around that thing. All right. Let's see. From chat, GBT, no Hindus generally do not eat lions.

In Hindu culture, many animals, especially large carnivores like lions are often associated with deities and have symbolic religious significance. The lion, for example, is the Vahana of the goddess Durga and is revered in Hinduism. So, yeah, I guess they don't eat lions either. So there's many things they don't eat, but they definitely don't eat beef. If you ever meet a Hindu, they're definitely going to be off beef. So here's the question. Why is that the case?

And if you listen to last week's episode where we discussed all the different subcategories and different sects of Hinduism, you'll know that Hinduism is not a monolithic faith. It's not even really religion to begin with. It is a life philosophy, right, with many different ways to understand the universe. So the different Hindu sex view cows through different philosophical lenses, and while some traditions see them as symbols of divine motherhood, others focus on their connection to specific deities, and still others approach the topic from a more reformed or perhaps modern perspective. Right. So we're going to go through a journey through the six major Hindu traditions, kind of like we did, last week, and we're going to

examine their relationship with the beloved bovine. Let's jump in. Vashnavism. Remember this one? What do you know about Vashnavism? We studied this. I'm cheating by... Dang it, Christos. I feel like you're not even listening when we're trying to learn about all the religions of all time. In Vashnavism, basically, Krishna isn't just some, you know, divine cow-loven deity or something, right? He's the sort of, supreme lord who chose to manifest as a butter-stealing cow-herding teenager in Rindavan. As the Bhagavan piranha tells us, quote, in the company of Balorama and the cowherd boys, Krishna places flute loudly as he herds all the animals of Raja.

But here's the kicker. Vishnuvites believe Krishna's role as a cowherd wasn't just some, you know, random career choice. It was divine demonstration of how to live in perfect harmony. with nature. That's right, where even the supposed lowly task of hurting cows becomes an act of transcendental love. It's kind of like, I don't know, Jesus being a shepherd, right? Like, he wasn't literally a shepherd, but he's the shepherd of mankind. He tends to his flock. So I guess we see other similarities in Christianity. Also, let me just say this really quick.

I've wondered this question for a long time about Hindus and cow worship. If someone asked me, I would be like, well, I don't know. Which is why I was curious. to figure this out. But I didn't do the research for this episode. The research for this episode was done by a wonderful Hindu friend of mine, whose name is Jesus and he's actually Mexican. He does not Hindu at all. I mean, he might get confused on an airplane. Maybe. I don't even know. But he's just purely a Mexican kid. So if any of this is wrong, I implore you to write a comment and let me know where I'm off base, and maybe I will do an update and correct some of my research as we go. But I'm learning along with y'all, all right? So, Beationalibite,

temples, they don't mess around. Walk into any major, you know, temple, and you might see cows being ritually decorated with turmeric or karkum or flower garlands during festivals. Can we pull a picture of this? This would be fun to see. Some temples, like the famous Guru Veyer Temple in Kerala, maintain massive goshalas, basically cow shelters. Wow. I mean, yeah, click on one of these. Maybe in the temple. Okay. Oh yeah, click on that one right there. Look at this. Wow. It's kind of nice. This cow chilling with the squads. Looks like a chick-flay commercial. It's sick as hell. And basically, in these goshalas, there are hundreds of cows that are cared for as living representations of Krishna's internal, you know, cow-herding realm. The morning ritual often includes offering the first fresh grass to the temple,

cows before even the deity receives their morning offering. And that is basically chick-fil-a. That's pretty far. So last, maybe I don't even know when this is going to come out. Two weeks ago, we talked about Iscon. This is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. And they take this ancient cow reverence into the 21st century with a modern twist. Their care for cows initiative, they're not just running traditional gosholas.

They're running full-fledged farm communities where cows live out. natural lives while providing milk for temple deities. That's awesome. The ISCON founder, Srila Paphu Pada, famously declared, cow protection is the most important business of human society. Human civilization, all right. I don't know if it's the most important business of human society.

I guess if you're a religious person, you see cows as divine. But even that, I'm like, it's got to be something else. World peace. World peace. But maybe this is how you get to world peace. I don't know. Human civilization. will advance only on the basis of brahminical culture and cow protection. The cow is your mother,

the bull is your father, and the protection of the lives of both the human beings and the animals is the first foremost duty of a government. Well, we're fucking up then. Maybe that's why America's in bad situations right now. What's up, camp family? What's up, campers? Two big announcements. Don't skip this. Two massive announcements. The merch store is back open. That's right. Camp goods is back in stock. We got these hats that I'm wearing right now. I've been rocking them

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That's right. I'm doing my one hour of stand-up comedy. Some of the greatest jokes ever written, okay? That's not true. But they are my jokes, and I wrote them. I'll be in Portland, Maine on April 27th. And that one, I'm doing with Joey Avery. You know Joey Avery, a friend of the show.

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Now let's get back to the show. Imagine this. You're 30 feet underground digging through frozen earth with spoons and mess hall plates. Nazi guards patrol overhead. One wrong move, one loose pebble, and it's over. But on this night in 1944-76, Alice, prisoners would attempt the impossible, tunneling their way to freedom in the largest prisoner of war escape of World War II. And centuries earlier, in a cold stone chamber, a teenage girl

in armor stood before her accusers, her crime, leading armies speaking to angels and daring to challenge the most powerful men in Europe. Joan of Arc's trial would become one of history's most infamous moments. These are just two stories from today in history, the newsletter that brings you the most fascinating events from the past delivered fresh to your inbox. From epic wars to religious rebellions, ancient mysteries to modern marvels, don't miss another piece of history. Scan the QR code now or click the link in the description to sign up for today in history. I know this isn't right, but is it sexist that the cow is your mother and the bull is your father?

How's that sexist? I don't know. It just seems anatomically correct. What's sexist about that? Oh, because the cow has nipples and bull has whole. Porns. You know that those are different. They're different genders.

Yeah, sure. If we believe in that. But they are, ostensibly, you have the bull with the horns and a penis. Right. It's a phallic symbol. Which one? The horn. The penis?

The penis is almost certainly a phallic symbol. I mean, like, I don't want to get too anatomical, but it is like the OG phallic symbol. Yeah. I mean, let's just pull up a cow penis while we're doing this. No, don't. Let's just look. Okay, we can just see. And where they monetize.

No, just don't show it. I mean, unless you can. Whoa. I mean, that thing is Yeah Whoa Why are so many animal Penises red and curly

That is a, I mean Human penises also right Right? Anyway, let's just move on Okay, they've essentially turned Cow protection into a global movement Trying to basically You know, protect cows across the world

I mean, it's a valiant effort I'm all for protecting animals I'll be honest, even sometimes I'm eating meat I just like, I think about the animal I meet I get weird about it. Like, I'm definitely a meat eater, but like, I don't know. I understand the vegan or the vegetarian position quite well. But when you look like me, you can't be vegetarian because it's just too stereotypical, you know.

The festival calendar in the Vaishnavite religion reads basically like this year-long celebration of Krishna's bovine buddies. Take the Gopashtami, where devotees go all out celebrating Krishna's coronation as the king of the cows. or the Govardhan Puyah, commemorating when Krishna lifted a whole mountain to protect cows and cow herders from Indra's fury. I mean, that's wild. In places like the Vrindavan and Mathura, these festivals transform entire cities into vibrant celebrations

where cows are adorned with ornaments worth more than some people's cars. So that's the Vashnavites. That's what they do in their sacred temples in regards to the reverence for the cow. Obviously, you know, they're going to see Krishna as you know embodying the spirit of the animal

and so you can see how the theology and the practice of sort of you know seeing the cow as some type of divine symbol you know would definitely connect right there and we're going to get into more details about why and how and then even my own personal thoughts about how this comes up so predominantly in

in Hindu culture but let's move on to Shivaism we remember Shivaism right the reverence for Shiva and the Shivites have something a bit more metal, the Nandi. This is the bull vehicle, you could say, the vessel of Shiva himself. But here's the crazy part. Nandi isn't just some, you know, like an Uber for the God of destruction, you know, like the God of destruction. Shiva is going to go into this bull, okay?

It's more than that, all right? Imagine this. Before you even see Shiva in any temple, you have to pay your respects to this magnificent bull. This is basically essentially, the world's like most powerful bouncer you can imagine right this is the bull you got to get through to get to Shiva himself basically filtering out all the spiritual riffraff you could say all right the relationship between Shiva and the divine bovine goes deeper than just you know having like a sick you know a cool wit right according to the Shivaite texts like the linga purana Shiva wears a necklace of twisted cow hair smears himself with holy ash from cow dung fires and occasionally rocks a bull hide as his signature outfit.

I mean, that's awesome. Can we get a picture of Shiva wearing the necklace on the bull hide? I mean, that sounds like John Wayne. It's basically this partnership where the raw, untamed energy of the bull complements Shiva's transcendent nature. Think of it as like, you know, almost like a buddy cop. This is basically like rush hour sort of vibes. So when it comes to worshipping, the Shivites go hard in the dairy.

All right? There's this thing known as Epishakum. This is a ritual bathing. of the Shiva Lingam, involving a precise sequence of offerings where milk plays the starring role. As the agamas prescribed, penchamritam,

a divine cocktail of milk, curd, ghee, honey, and sugar is used to bathe the lingam. The Kashmiri, Shivite text, the Tentraloka, even suggests that the five products of the cow, the things we just said,

milk, curd, ghee, urine, and dung represent the five faces of Shiva himself. That's taking a very serious devotion. I mean, that's wild. I mean, sometimes have you ever seen the videos of the dudes that, like, bathe in the urine? Oh, yeah. Can we pull one of those videos up?

I guess that makes sense. If you see the urine as the actual face of Shiva himself, then all of a sudden it's not something that you'd be grossed out by. You'd actually have reverence for it. I've always seen those videos, and I was like, what is going on? But that kind of makes sense, actually. Maybe that's not what's happening at all. Someone correct me if I'm completely off base here.

The regional variations in the Shivite cow veneration are where things get interesting. And Tamil Nadu, the festival of Matsu Pangal, turns into a full-blown, like, cow beauty pageant type thing, where the bulls get decked out in these like sick, colorful outfits and they paint their horns. And then up in Varanasi, Shiva City, certain Shivite sex maintained that feeding a black bull is the equivalent to feeding Shiva himself. Meanwhile, in Nepal, in the Paschupatanath tradition, they believe that a special breed of black cow are the direct descendants of Kamad Henu, Nandi's cosmic cow counterpart. Contemporary Shivite ashrums have taken this ancient bull reverence and turbocharged it for the modern day. A Isha Foundation, led by Sad Guru, maintains extensive cow shelters while promoting indigenous cattle breeds. I mean, that's pretty wild.

At Karnataka's Sittaganga Mutt, they've combined traditional cow protection with modern dairy science, creating what they call spiritual sustainability. These ashrums aren't just preserving traditions. They're proving that ancient cow reverence can coexist with modern environmental consciousness.

I mean, that's pretty wild. I mean, what does this festival look like where they paint all the horns and stuff? Oh, what is this? This is the urine drinking. A guy drinking urine? I don't think he's the right sect of East Asian. Yeah, this guy is Taiwanese.

You know they're different, right? I said South Asian. Well, that's the least racist thing you could do. I guess, yeah, yeah, pulling up a random other Asian. I mean, that's wild. You ever seen that, you ever watched Nathan for you? Yeah. There's a great scene of Nathan for you where he's talking to this guy.

I don't even know where the guy's from. But he's talking to the guy and he's like, you know, what do you do if you're feeling sick or scared? He's like, oh, you drink the urine of, like, your nephew. And he was like, what? He's like, yeah, you drink like a young kid's urine. And, like, apparently, like, it cleanses your spirit. And it's the only time in the whole show that Nathan Fielder ever breaks. It's, like, the funniest thing in the entire world.

So apparently there's a tradition where people will sometimes do that. Hindu activists in India drink cow urine to protect themselves from coronavirus. Whoa. It's also kind of crazy how they're drinking it. Yeah. This pourover method? It's funny because he doesn't want to put his lips on the cup because he's like, If I put my lips on the cup, that'll make me sick.

But the urine is no problem. Yeah, I mean, but it makes sense, though, right? Like, again, this show is all about celebrating religious tradition. And if you believe that Shiva is represented in the urine of the cow, then that's your prerogative. I'm not going to knock you for that. I go to church every week and I drink wine. That's supposed to be the blood of Christ.

Do you actually go to church every week? The weeks that I go to church. Okay. All right. Sometimes I'm busy. I'm on the road. You know what I mean? Or sometimes I sleep in.

I'm playing FIFA. I'm saying there's a gray area, okay? But if I go, I'm going to go drink some wine that's the body and blood of Christ. And I feel like to Hindus, they'd probably be like, that's crazy. I'm going to stick with my cow urine, but what you guys are going to drink a blood of a human?

That's crazy. So look, it's easy to sit on the outside and be like, oh, this religion's insane, but also every religion does some stuff that you're like, it's pretty crazy. Yeah. Our thing is a little crazy. I mean, I'm not going to drink bull urine.

Like, that's just, I'll... That's gay. It is on the spectrum of gay Eating the body of someone is also a little suspect All religion is sort of gay Okay To an extent, you know what I mean Like there's a pageantry to it

Like there's a gayness Like I don't know maybe maybe that's why They got the gays out of there in a lot of religions Maybe that's why Well you know the priests aren't helping things Look the whole priest thing is overblown We're gonna do an episode on that all right we're going to vindicate the priests, all right, as a devout Catholic.

This is not about Catholicism, all right? Let's get back to the Hindus, all right? Remember Shaktism? We talked about that. So, just to recap, Vishnavites see cows as Krishna's bestie. The Shivites see, you know, the Shiva living within the bull themselves. And then the Shaqtas take it to a whole new level. They see every cow as a walking, mooing manifestation of the divine mother.

Remember the Shaktis, they appreciate the mother goddess. the spiritual feminine force. Right. These were my favorite last time. Probably. A little cuck. Think about it this way. In a tradition where divine feminine power is everything, what is the ultimate symbol of nurturing cosmic energy?

The female cow. This is where we're going to talk about Kamad Hennu. This is the wish-fulfilling cow, basically like, I don't know, Aladdin's genie or something. Maybe that's disrespectful to say. I'm sorry, Hindus. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I'm just trying to put in a way of the dumb way. white people can understand.

This celestial mother is not just some, you know, cosmic, you know, dairy farm. According to Shakta text, the Kamad Henu emerged from cosmic ocean during the churning of the milk sea, basically making her the universe's OG mommy milker in a way. She is none of the first one. She's depicted with a woman's face showing that divine motherhood transcends species, right? Because if you're if you're the goddess herself, why would you be limited to just human form? We should pull up a picture of Kamad Henu. Can we pull that up?

Yeah. See, look at this. Damn, games on it. Wow. So this is a slightly different version. This is basically, actually, go back to that because that's helpful to point out, that this idea is basically that all deities are living within the cow herself. So what's a deity for our listeners who don't know and me? I mean, this idea that, I mean, a deity in general.

Yeah. Just like a god or like, you know, the pantheon of gods or just the single god that you might worship. Like I guess it's not really used in Christian lore as much, but like in a way, I think you could probably classify God as a deity. I mean, I'm also talking about my ass. I don't even know the definition of a deity. I think it's just some type of like supernatural. I think probably a supernatural cosmic force. But let's get an exact definition, shall we?

A god or a goddess in a polytheistic religion, divine status, quality, or nature, the creator and supreme being in monotheistic religion. So yeah, there you go. It's just a god or a goddess, I guess. But I feel like you could even say that like a demon is a deity or something or like a gin is a deity. Regardless, it's supernatural.

And this idea, I'm pretty sure, is tying into the idea that all gods are believed to reside in the body of, Kamadhenu, the generic cow. Her four legs are the scriptural Vedas. Her horns are the triune brahma, you know, being Brahma at the tip, Vishnu in the middle and Shiva at the base. The eyes are the sun and the moon.

And the shoulders are the fire god Agni and the wind god Veyu. And her legs are the Himalayas. So that's what that image kind of represents right there. So you can see that, you know, there's an all-encompassing nature to it. But the one that we're speaking about specifically is the depiction of,

This mother goddess with the face of a human. There you go. Shout out to the Shaktis. Is it wrong to say that looks like Pocahontas? I wouldn't say it's wrong, but you can see why Christopher Columbus called him Indians. Right. That's my point. Yeah.

So you can see he comes over. He's like, I'm looking for India. And he's like, well, close enough, I guess. If you're like me, you probably read a news story and you're like, this is crazy. What is the truth about this? Is this a partisan spin? Is this funded by some? media company or some country by their state-sponsored media to try to warp my brain.

I genuinely read news articles now with so much skepticism because I have no idea if this is from the right or the left and what the agenda is and why it's being presented in front of me. And that is why I follow and support ground news. That's right. So even before I started working with this company on the podcast, I've been following them on Instagram because I just thought they gave a very, very great, unbiased, nonpartisan approach to media. It's a very important. It's It's awesome. Basically, you're going to get a headline, and they will show you sort of the different media splits as it comes to understanding the story.

They will compare the reporting from different outlets across the political spectrum in one place to show you how the framing and word choice can affect our understanding of a story. I mean, here's a story that my mom sent me from a couple months ago. Robberies, assaults surge in Central Park, leaving New Yorkers and NYC Taurus terrified. What is the purpose of this story? Who is writing it? Where is it coming from? Now I can go to Ground News, read this headline, and be able to make an assessment as to whether or not this is predominantly being reported by the right wing or by the left wing and make some type of deduction like, oh, this is actually being used as some sort of political apparatus.

So if you're like me, if you're a truth seeker, if you're trying to find unbiased news, I would absolutely recommend Ground News. It is a completely independent, nonpartisan subscriber funded. It allows readers to think critically about the world around them and it doesn't tell them what to think, but instead lets them think for them. themselves. And ultimately, it avoids misinformation and tries to heal polarization within our country, which I think is absolutely amazing. So don't let misinformation and sensationalism influence how you think. Save a massive 40% on Ground News's top tier vantage plan with my link, ground. News slash Gagnon, J-A-G-N-O-N-N-O-N, or scan my QR code right here. Or go to the description and click on the link. This unlocks access to all of their news analysis features, something that I think is, I don't know,

Super important to have. Yeah, make decisions based on facts, not spin this November. Check them out. Imagine this. You're 30 feet underground digging through frozen earth with spoons and mess hall plates. Nazi guards patrol overhead. One wrong move, one loose pebble, and it's over. But on this night in 1944, 76 Allied prisoners would attempt the impossible,

tunneling their way to freedom in the largest prisoner of war escape of World War II. And centuries earlier, in a cold stone chamber, a teenage girl in armor stood before her accusers. Her crime, leading armies speaking to angels, and daring to challenge the most powerful men in Europe. Joan of Arc's trial would become one of history's most infamous moments. These are just two stories from today in history, the newsletter that brings you the most fascinating events from the past delivered fresh to your inbox. From epic wars to religious rebellions, ancient mysteries to modern marvels, Don't miss another piece of history. Scan the QR code now or click the link in the description to sign up for today in history.

In Shaktah temples, cows aren't just sacred. They are the VIPs, you could say, in the divine drama of worship, right? During the famous Durga-Puzha festivals, you'll see cows being worshipped alongside the goddess decked out in red saries and golden ornaments. Some Shaktahattah temples in Bengal and Assam even maintain the tradition of having a designated Guamata, which literally translates to mother cow, who gets the first offering of every puja because even the mother goddess knows to respect her fellow divine moms.

The connection between the goddess and cattle protection and shaktism goes beyond mere symbolism, right? Shakta traditions view cow protection as a direct form of goddess worship, and some text claim that caring for cows generates a more spiritual merit than elaborate temple rituals. Modern Shakta practitioners

haven't just preserved these traditions. They've revolutionized them for contemporary times. The organization like the Kamakia Temple Trust run a high-tech Goshala. Can we get a picture of a Goshala? G-O-S-H-A-L-S. And they combine ancient reverence

with modern veterinary science. The Barhat Matta Goshala Network inspired by Shachta Principles has created a model where cow protection meets women's empowerment. Right? Mm-hmm. No jokes there.

Nope. They've even got programs where urban devotees kind of a cow virtually, getting regular updates about their four-legged manifestation of Shakti. I mean, that's awesome. You can do a virtual adoption of a cow. So, yeah, look at this. This is a go shallow.

We're literally like they just have cows living their best lives. It's kind of nice. Like, if you're going to reincarnate, being a cow wouldn't be a bad option. Because you get to just post up. In India. In India. Yeah, that's a good, yeah. In India.

Yes, that is a good one. Can we look at this, how to adopt a cow? Maybe we throw some beans at that. It's not adopting. You're just paying. You're supporting. You're supporting. It's kind of like buying a star.

Yeah. Oh, look at this. I mean, this is an American version. That's kind of sick. We know a good idea when we see one. Yeah, this is awesome. Oh, the shanti cow. Look at this.

Oh, I mean, this is nice. Like, it is a nice thing. So, oh. Well, the grass area there is so nice. No, look. I mean, compared to getting to, a nail in your head. I mean, this, okay, cows are allowed to live out their full span of life, their nurtured, respected, treated with kindness. Caves are allowed to stay with their mothers

and nurse from them for four to six months. Cows enjoy feed as well as grazing freely on pasture. I mean, that's just beautiful. I love that. That's very, very sweet. And now we're moving on to the smartas. Remember the smartas, right? Oh, yeah. These are kind of like the more open-minded, they believe, and many of the gods, they're much more polytheistic. They kind of appreciate all the traditions. So the Smartas are, they've taken a more cerebral approach, as you can imagine. So while other traditions are, you know, focusing specifically on the cosmic bulls or the, you know, Krishna's, you know, cosmic cow-herding tradition, the Smartis take a more cerebral approach, right? So for them, it's not about worshipping the cow as a deity, but understanding it as a living symbol of universal

consciousness. They basically say, hey, before you, you know, dig into, you know, you know, all the spiritual stuff, let's just look at what the cow really represents from a philosophical lens. So the Smartis genius lies in how it integrates cow symbolism into the worship of multiple deities, this idea of Shanmata. According to Smarta text, cow embodies the aspects of all major deities, the nurturing Devi, the Darmic stability of Shiva, the sustenance of Vishnu, the wisdom of Ganesh, etc. When it comes to Vedantic interpretation, Smartas go full on metaphysical. They interpret the cow's calm demeanor and natural giving nature as practical demonstrations of Vedantic principles. So this is what we were just talking about before. Remember that image we

pulled up of basically all the entities living within the cow specifically? So this is the smartest are the ones that are all about that. So the four legs of the cow are said to represent the Vedas, the milk is the flow of knowledge, the peaceful nature is the state of consciousness. I mean, pretty nice. Adi Shankara, his influence on the Smart's attitude towards cow protections where philosophy meets practicality. In his various works, Shankara emphasized that protecting cows is not just an act of Dharma, but means of purifying the intellect. He taught, also, I was told that it might be pronounced Dharma.

I think the A might be silent. So if that's the case, I'm going to continue that way. He taught that the act of serving cows helps dissolve the ego because, you know, you're basically cleaning a gashala all day. It's going to humble you. And contemporary smart to practices have evolved this philosophical foundation into modern action. Major smart of institutions like the stringeri, charada, pitam, maintain extensive gosholas where traditional reverence meets this modern conservation. They're not just protecting indigenous cow breeds.

They're preserving what they see as living symbols of Vedantic truth. Oh, I mean, I'd see the smartas are my favorite. I like all of them. I like all the denominations. But the smartes, I just think they just speak to me in a nice way. I really like that. And they're also the most all-encompassing. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

It's the best of all worlds. Right? You kind of get it all. It's kind of nice with the smartness. And you're supporting the ladies. Right? Yeah, exactly. You get the hell about the cows? It's sick as hell. All right. Now there's one that I don't know about as much. The aria Samaj. The Arias Samaj enters our narrative about cow protection with a shift in perspective. Okay. So there's this person, the movement's founder, Dayananda Saraswati.

and they emphasized the practical benefits of cow protection in his work. Rather than focusing solely on divine or mystical reasons, the Saraswati argue that cows are valuable for their contributions to agriculture and dairy production. This rational approach marked a departure from the traditional spiritual narratives and rather emphasize the utility. Now, here's where the aria samage gets a little interesting. They draw this sharp line between reverence and worship. They argue that treating cows as deities,

actually diminishes their practical importance. For them, true reverence means recognizing the cow's vital role in sustainable agriculture, stability, you know, economically, and then societal well-being. The aria Samaj's scientific and ethical arguments for cow protection would make, you know, basically modern liberal Bushwick environmentalists very proud. Their texts meticulously document the cows contributions from fertilizer to fuel to soil conservation to biodiversity. And the arguments just aren't about saying that cows, you know, know, are, you know, are great. We need to save the cows. They're like cows are important for the entire agricultural ecosystem. When it comes to social reform, the Aria Samaj turned cow protection into a movement. They established some of India's first organized cattle welfare programs,

but with a twist, they integrated these with women's education, agricultural reform, in anti-untouchability campaigns. I'm assuming the untouchability campaigns is like the Dalits, like the low caste in India. I'm assuming. They essentially turned Gashalas into centers for social change and basically like social justice. The modern Arias Samajan initiatives have evolved this rational approach into sophisticated cow protection programs. Wow. I mean, that's kind of awesome.

So they've taken like a social justice and more of like a rational approach, it seems like. They're kind of like, hey, look, cows are good for the economy. They're good for the environment. But if you treat them as too reverent, if you believe that the deities are in there and that you can't do anything with them, then like, you know, you might not be able to get their milk.

You might not have them, you know, you might not be able to get their fertilizer and sell it, stuff like that, right? If the dung, for example, is like the face of Shiva, then you can't, you know, use it, I'm assuming, in the same practical way. Sounds like a little bit of a cop-out because you still want to exploit the cow.

You don't want to put the cow on a pedestal. Or are you trying to exploit it, or are you trying to just like, you know. Humanize it. You're trying to put it, you're trying to recognize that there is a lot of utility. Right. You know what I mean?

And their importance is tied to their utility. Exactly. Like, I've even read, uh, some people believe that in, uh, like, you know, unrecorded, like, Indian history that the subcontinent was saved by famine by, you know, their accessibility to cows. And like, like, different animals in different regions, like, almost possessed like this, this deification, like in like Mongolia, like Tajikistan, like with horses. They're like horses and like horse meat was like the only thing they had access to. Like, the ground is very arid. So as a result, it, like, sustained the people for a long time. And the, like, the, you know, gratitude and reverence for, you know, cows in society at that time that saved them for famine. And some people have even speculated that that's why, like, Baphimet, the pagan symbol for, like, Satan, was just at one point worshipped as, like, a deity that has the head of a goat. Because perhaps goats and, like, goat meat and goat milk saved them from some type of famine.

People have also pointed out that, you know, cows give us, you know, butter, cheese, you know, milk, all that. stuff which like is great cows are also extremely docile and like really possessed like no harm to humans in any way like unless like you're getting freaking with them or something trying to tip them yeah exactly like they can give birth to more cows which you can use for milk later so like there's like an actual like appreciating stock do you know cow tipping isn't a real thing what does that mean so in cow tipping and this is probably not no no no you got me here so in cow tipping you wait until the cow falls asleep

which everyone has told you they do standing, and then you tip them over. Cows don't sleep standing. I mean, maybe they kind of like get... They kneel down when they sleep. Okay, can we get a video of cow tipping? There's no way. I thought that they kind of like would half sleep standing up.

Maybe. But you've never dozed off behind the wheel? A million times. And you don't think someone could have tipped you over? In my car? Yeah, right? Or like drove you off the road or something? For sure.

All right, let's see. I mean, this is going to be extremely sacrilegious if there's any Hindus watching. Yeah, this is going to be very, very, very rude. Also, this just looks like a guy moving hay around. So there's not a video of cow tipping? I mean, can you just start just cow tipping real? Because now this is blowing my mind. I have it on good authority that cows sleep kneeling down.

Real activity is an urban legend. Wow. Not a factual practice. This is blown my mind. Someone even said that the activity is real, but the results are not. Cows don't tip over sleeping or not. But plenty of people still go out trying to cow tip because they think it's funny. But like you'll just push a cow and it'll just like move.

Well, from what I understand, or at least what I've seen in movies, is you don't tip it over, you tie their hooves together and then push it. That's just cow tripping. Or, yes, or pulling the tied together legs. Yeah, I mean, that's crazy to me, first off, that cow tipping is not a real thing. It's not a real thing. I mean, that's wild. I asked to do this the first.

time this is going to make me sound bad but I were asked to do this the first time I visited a farm with some guys that had cows or to other players that had cows and they go they don't they sleep sitting down you're never going to be able to do that I mean yeah they're also 800 pounds that's true I wonder where it came from I wonder if it like I wonder if it came from like parents basically like sending their kale on like a fool's errand it sounds like some hillbilly college shit yeah I think it's parents being like, oh, you want to do something fun, go do cow tipping. Like, you ever seen them where parents, like, a kid will fall asleep and they're like fake sleeping? And then parents will be like, oh, yeah, if they're really asleep and you raise their hand, then they'll stay asleep

and they lift their hand and their hand stays up. Yeah. I bet you it's that where some parents were like, oh, you want to do something fun tonight? You're bored. Go do cow tipping. When they fall asleep, they're standing up, you push them over. Or like when they catch you smoking a cigarette, they make you smoke the whole carton. Yeah, I mean, that sounds more like just a punishment. Right. But it's a punishment if you try to tip a cow and the cow comes after you, even though we know They're docile. They're docile, bro. Are you not reading Hinduism?

You're telling me if you don't go try to tip over a cow, it's not going to come at you? No, it'll probably be like, yo, what's going on? Or maybe they'll like the rub. Maybe they'll like the back rub. Who knows? The other thing that people point out with cows is that their dung can be used as fuel. When they die, their skin can be used as leather. Obviously, some people would object to this.

Picks skin is what a football used to be made out of it. Can we actually look up? What do Hindus do with cows when they die? Yeah, that's an interesting question. What do they do? If you have to... The Caris is typically left for scavengers or buried. It obviously depends on the region and the subsect of, you know, religiosity.

What about, like, can you search, like, what do, like, shock these do? What do you shock these do when cows die? Because they seem pretty hardcore about it. I wonder if they do, like, a whole burial. Maybe they cremate them. Because that's what many Hindus do when they die. They're treated with respect and buried sometimes with rituals. Wow.

Wow. You would think that if they cremate them, that's kind of protein powder. Oh, yeah. That's where way comes from. Yeah. Yeah, that's basically way. And then they might bathe themselves with the ash. Oh, that's so interesting.

A trench is dug for the carcass and then covered with dirt. I mean, shout out to them, dude. Like, you can't fault any religion for being pacifists, you know, towards animals. Yeah. Like, it's just a likable quality in a religion. Yep. All right, let's talk about one more. The, guys, I'm so sorry.

my pronunciation. This one is a tough one. Swamenarian, some praeia. Swamanarian, some Pradea. If you think modern Hinduism can't compete with the ancient traditions, well, the Swamanarians would like to speak with you. They have these massive temples, especially during the Axiardom complexes, and they've created what could be called the four seasons of cow care. Okay, they're temple Goshalas, which we said before,

the Goshalas, where they, you know, take care of the olive cows. They feature climate-controlled environments, automated feeding systems, and cow health monitoring technology. Lord Swaminarian didn't just preach about cow protection. He made it a cornerstone of his spiritual revolution. He basically says, my disciples shall not intentionally kill any living being, including insects. They shall never kill goats or any other being in sacrifices performed for the appropriation of deities or ancestors, for nonviolence is declared by all scriptures as the highest darm of all darms. But here's the kicker.

He especially emphasized cow protection as a practical application of nonviolence. Wow. I mean, that's awesome. The BAPS, which is just the longest name I've ever heard in my life, maybe we can put this up. This takes the traditional mandate and turbocharges it for the 21st century. Their Goshalas are now spas. Can we search this? We need to get what this looks like.

Search the BAPS Goshala. And they basically are a cow spa where they have these facilities with automated grooming stations, veterinary checkups and scientific research to study the indigenous cow breeds. The integrations of traditional values with contemporary practices in bops is where things get really interesting. They've developed what they call Gua Seva, a comprehensive system that combines ancient cow care principles with modern animal husbandry. I mean, they play music, devotional music to cows and feed them blessed food.

And what kind of music does a cow listen to? I don't know. I mean, yeah, these look pretty sweet. I mean, yeah, this rules. Shout out to them. They're better than the other things, but they're not spas exactly. Yeah, I think, well, I don't know what the, what the, you know. None of these have robes on or anything.

Oh, those guys do. Right? I mean, that's definitely a robe. Those guys are the employees. They're not the... Yeah, that's true. I mean, these cows... I'll be honest, a cow, even in its best condition, doesn't look great.

Yes. Like a cow that's been... This cows been taken care of for the last 100,000 years. And just looks like, oh, God. Baby cows are cute. Baby cows are very cute. I don't eat veal. Because they're baby cows.

It feels wrong to me. It feels like unethical. I agree. It's a weird line to draw that I'm like, oh, I'll eat a burger, but I'm not going to eat veal. But just on a personal basis, I'm like, ugh. That's like a serial killer saying I'll only hurt adults and not kids. Which seems like there is some moral principles to it. You know what I mean?

BAPS also pioneers educational initiatives around cow protection. They organize tours for children, workshops, and sustainable dairy farming, and have interactive exhibits explaining the scientific benefits of indigenous cow breeds. Wow. Well, there you have it. That's the cultural practice of many Hindu subsex around the practice of, you know, taking care of cows. So I guess that's what I've learned today. They don't worship the cow necessarily, depending on your subsect, you see that the cow embodies the spiritual fruits of whatever, you know, specific deity you have aligned yourself with. And so as a result, you have reverence for it specifically. obviously if you are a shevite and you you know revere krishna you see the cow herding is very

you know symbolic you know if you see this like mother this like feminine quality the you know the shakhtis obviously have uh you know a real devotional line to that so that makes a lot of sense and uh yeah the shevites right you have this cosmic bull in uh in shivism i mean this makes a lot of sense to me i'll be honest which one do you like the most of all these christos I'm staying with the smartest. Shout out to the smarties over here. Yeah, the smarties are awesome, dude. Well, Adi Shankar.

We've got to look him up. Can you look up Adi Shankar? I would love to see who this guy is. This guy nailed a lot of stuff. Shout out to him. Adi Shankara. Oh, this is this guy from back in the day. Doesn't even have a photo.

I figured there'd be like a picture of this guy. There's the rendering of him only. Sponsored by Adidas? I mean, that's fire, bro. Stripes over checks. You know what time it is. I mean, that's awesome. That's awesome.

Shout out to all the Hindus and, and yeah, if you are going to, I don't know, it just seems weird to knock a religion for having reverence for, you know, other animal life on earth. Bathing in urine is, you know, that's to each the run, I guess we could say, right? It's weird to me, but I'm a dumb Westerner,

and I do weird stuff also. But that has been another episode of Religion Camp. As always, we have Campmerch at Campgo. You can check it out there. I'm also on the road. I'm on tour, if that was not our, not already insert into the episode. You can see me on tour,

the mark Agnon.com. I got tour dates all over. I'd love to see some Hindus come out. Maybe I'll do some, I'll do some Hindu jokes. Maybe I'll do, they're going to be deep cuts, though.

I'm going to be talking mostly about smartas and shaktis. But regardless, whatever faith tradition you belong to, we talk about all of them on this show. And I do appreciate everyone's support in making this channel happen. Gabe, anything you'd like to add?

Gristos. Love you guys. My name is Mark Agdon. you guys so much for tuning in and peace with you. If you've made it to the end of this episode, you are clearly someone who understands that beneath every historical event lies a deeper truth waiting to be uncovered. You're the type of person who knows that real history is more fascinating than any fiction. And we deeply appreciate that about you. I'll be honest. That's exactly why I personally invite you to sign up for today in history. Our free newsletter that goes beyond

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