Hinduism is a religion that has its roots in Vedas. However the knowledge of Vedas is acquired by handful of hindus, that is ,not every hindu is educated with Vedas. To understand why hindus do NOT worship COW we need to first understand what is the origin of COW and this origin factor will decide whether COW is worshipped or not in Hinduism.
Let us first understand the origin of COW-
Origin and Evolution of COW ( Bos Taurus) .
URUS also known as “Aurochs” were one of the largest wild herbivores’ cattle, that existed in European forests for thousands of years. Around 16th century they became extinct leaving behind its genes in BOS TAURUS, that is, in all the foreign cow breeds.
History and evolution of Bos Taurus:
Around 7000 BCE years ago people in the Middle East began to domesticate the wild Urus (Aurochs) living nearby through the process of artificial selection. Artificial selection is a process wherein the humans consciously select for or against a particular feature in an organism for domestication of cattle. For example, the human may allow only organisms with the desired characteristics to reproduce or may provide more resources to the organisms with the desired feature.
As people in middle east started to live more closely with wild aurochs, they goaded the evolution of wild Urus (Aurochs) by deliberate exploitation of artificial selection breeding to produce desired particular traits in wild herbivores Aurochs. This artificial selection process, as opposed to natural selection, caused evolutionary change in the organism which gave advantage to Middle East people to use these wild herbivores Aurochs for their personal use apart from hunting. This artificial selection breeding caused genetic mutation which made these wild Urus (Aurochs) into docile breeds. Over thousands of years, this genetic mutation caused the desired trait in wild Aurochs and loss of some of the more aggressive traits, like the instinctual, defensive behavior in the presence of humans and became heritable to the offspring of Urus (Aurochs).Through many generation i.e. over thousands of year this artificial selection process lead the genetic mutation among the population of wild Urus (Aurochs) which evolved into the Bos Taurus that are presently known as “COWS”. Over the course of decades, hundreds of distinct Taurine breeds (Bos Taurus) have been produced by artificial selection and were spread from Middle East through Africa, Europe, Germany and Denmark. Thus Bos Taurus i.e. all Foreign cow breeds are domesticated descendants of its wild ancestors Urus i.e. Aurochs.
The sexual dimorphism in terms of height between Aurochs male and female was strongly present with the Aurochs female being significantly shorter than its male counterpart.
Does the Bos Taurus and Bos Indicus have same ancestor ?
NO , both have different ancestor as the origin and evolution of COW (Bos Taurus) is totally different from Bos indicus. Bos Taurus are the descendants of its wild ancestors Urus i.e. Aurochs, but, Bos indicus not only have different “GENUS” (origin) but also have different “GENETICS”. This fact has been scientifically evidenced and documented in science journal by Genetics organization (Microsatellite DNA Variation and the Evolution, Domestication and Phylogeography of Taurine and Zebu Cattle (Bos taurus and Bos indicus). Since Indicus does not belong to “BOS” genus then the question comes what is the “GENUS” (origin) and “GENETICS” of Indicus this will be explained in detail in our further post origin and evolution of GAIA (Kamadhenu).
What is the origin of the word “COW” ?
The word “COW” originates from Anglic language which was popularised by European countries for their European cattle (Taurine cattle) “BOS TAURUS “. Hence BOS TAURUS are commonly known as “COW”, also anglic language lacks a gender-neutral singular form so word “COW” is used for all domestic bovines in foreign countries.
Why there are no horns in some Taurine cattle?
Taurine cattle like Galloway , Angus , Norfolk cow breeds are naturally “POLLED” ,that is, they do not have horns from inheritance . Around 17th century taurine cattle which were originally horned were crossed with naturally polled breeds through artificial selection breeding .The gene responsible for this hornless trait is known as “POLLED” and this gene was spread using genetic modification technique wherein the “POLLED” gene was inserted into the genome of Taurine cattle like Jersey, Holstein resulting in the creation of two hornless calves. This method involves integrating a ‘hornless’ gene (POLLED) into the cow genome and results in all calves being born without horns. This genetic modification is rapidly being used in almost all dairy industry to spread this hornless trait among the animals.
Now, again we will go back to our question to answer it-
Are COWS worshipped in hinduism ? Do they have any spiritual importance ?
NO , “COWS” are NOT worshipped in hinduism ! here COWS means all Taurine cattle , domestic bovines which has been explained in this post, also the origin of the word COW is not there in any hindu religious granth.”GAIA” is worshipped by hindus and the reason why it is worshipped in hinduism will be explained in detail in our further post origin and evolution of GAIA (Kamadhenu).
