Cow is our mother

Expressions researched:
"Cow is also mother" |"Cow is giving milk-mother" |"cow as mother" |"cow as mother" |"cow as our mother" |"cow gives milk, mother" |"cow is a mother" |"cow is considered a mother" |"cow is mother" |"cow is my mother" |"cow is not my mother" |"cow is our mother" |"cow is the mother" |"cow is your mother" |"cow, is my mother" |"cow, it is your mother" |"cow, she's your mother" |"cow, so she is mother" |"cow, the nurse and mother" |"cow, who is your mother" |"cow, who is your mother" |"cow, your mother" |"cow. She's actually mother" |"mother animal, the cow" |"mother cow" |"mother, cow" |"mother, raja. Dhenu, cow" |"mother. cow"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.17.9, Translation:

O son of Surabhi, you need lament no longer now. There is no need to fear this low-class śūdra. And, O mother cow, as long as I am living as the ruler and subduer of all envious men, there is no cause for you to cry. Everything will be good for you.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit addresses the cow as mother, for he is a cultured, twice-born, kṣatriya king.

SB 1.17.9, Purport, Purport:

Protection of bulls and cows and all other animals can be possible only when there is a state ruled by an executive head like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. Mahārāja Parīkṣit addresses the cow as mother, for he is a cultured, twice-born, kṣatriya king. Surabhi is the name of the cows which exist in the spiritual planets and are especially reared by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. As men are made after the form and features of the Supreme Lord, so also the cows are made after the form and features of the surabhi cows in the spiritual kingdom. In the material world the human society gives all protection to the human being, but there is no law to protect the descendants of Surabhi, who can give all protection to men by supplying the miracle food, milk.

SB Canto 3

The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of one's mother, human society takes cow's milk.

SB 3.2.29, Purport:

Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaiśyas, should herd cows and bulls and thus give protection to the valuable animals. According to smṛti regulation, the cow is the mother and the bull the father of the human being. The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of one's mother, human society takes cow's milk.

The bull helps in the agricultural process of producing grain, etc., and thus in one sense the bull is the father of humankind, whereas the cow is the mother, for she supplies milk to human society.

SB 3.5.7, Purport:

The cow is the most important animal for developing the human body to perfection. The body can be maintained by any kind of foodstuff, but cow's milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain so that one can understand the intricacies of transcendental knowledge. A civilized man is expected to live on foodstuffs comprising fruits, vegetables, grains, sugar and milk. The bull helps in the agricultural process of producing grain, etc., and thus in one sense the bull is the father of humankind, whereas the cow is the mother, for she supplies milk to human society. A civilized man is therefore expected to give all protection to the bulls and cows.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 17.153, Translation:

The Lord said, "You drink cows' milk; therefore the cow is your mother. And the bull produces grains for your maintenance; therefore he is your father."

It does not matter whether it is cows' flesh or goats' flesh, but we especially stress the prohibition against cows' flesh because according to śāstra the cow is our mother.

CC Adi 17.154, Purport:

Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu challenged the Muslim Kazi, "What kind of religious principle do you follow by killing your father and mother to eat them?" In any civilized human society, no one would dare kill his father and mother for the purpose of eating them. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu challenged the system of Muslim religion as patricide and matricide. In the Christian religion also, a principal commandment is "Thou shalt not kill." Nevertheless, Christians violate this rule; they are very expert in killing and in opening slaughterhouses. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, our first provision is that no one should be allowed to eat any kind of flesh. It does not matter whether it is cows' flesh or goats' flesh, but we especially stress the prohibition against cows' flesh because according to śāstra the cow is our mother. Thus the Muslims' cow-killing was challenged by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

If śāstra is an authority, the cow is a mother always; she was a mother in the Vedic age, and she is a mother in this age also.

CC Adi 17.157, Purport:

Between śastra (ruling through weapons) and śāstra (ruling through the injunctions of the scriptures), the better is śāstra. Our Vedic scriptures are not ordinary lawbooks of human common sense; they are the statements of factually liberated persons unaffected by the imperfectness of the senses.

Śāstra must be correct always, not sometimes correct and sometimes incorrect. In the Vedic scriptures, the cow is described as a mother. Therefore she is a mother for all time; it is not, as some rascals say, that in the Vedic age she was a mother but she is not in this age. If śāstra is an authority, the cow is a mother always; she was a mother in the Vedic age, and she is a mother in this age also.

Since the cow is considered a mother, how could the Vedas allow cow-killing?

CC Adi 17.159, Purport:

In the Vedic scriptures there are concessions for meat-eaters. It is said that if one wants to eat meat, he should kill a goat before the goddess Kālī and then eat its meat. Meat-eaters are not allowed to purchase meat or flesh from a market or slaughterhouse. There are no sanctions for maintaining regular slaughterhouses to satisfy the tongues of meat-eaters. As far as cow-killing is concerned, it is completely forbidden. Since the cow is considered a mother, how could the Vedas allow cow-killing? Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out that the Kazi's statement was faulty. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.44) there is a clear injunction that cows should be protected: kṛṣi-gorakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam. "The duty of vaiśyas is to produce agricultural products, trade and give protection to cows." Therefore it is a false statement that the Vedic scriptures contain injunctions permitting cow-killing.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

There are seven kinds of mothers, according to Vedic injunction: the real mother, the wife of a teacher or spiritual master, the wife of a king, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, the cow, the nurse and mother earth.

Krsna Book 6:

There are seven kinds of mothers, according to Vedic injunction: the real mother, the wife of a teacher or spiritual master, the wife of a king, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, the cow, the nurse and mother earth. Because Pūtanā came to take Kṛṣṇa on her lap and offer her breast milk to be sucked by Him, she was accepted by Kṛṣṇa as one of His mothers. That is considered to be another reason He closed His eyes: He had to kill a nurse or mother. But His killing of His mother or nurse was no different from His love for His real mother or His foster mother, Yaśodā. We further understand from Vedic information that Pūtanā was also treated as a mother and given the same facility as Yaśodā. As Yaśodā was given liberation from the material world, Pūtanā was also given liberation. When the baby Kṛṣṇa closed His eyes, Pūtanā took Him on her lap.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Because one mother has given birth to the child, the another mother is supplying milk. So everyone should be obliged to mother cow, because she is supplying milk.

Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973:

Because one mother has given birth to the child, the another mother is supplying milk. So everyone should be obliged to mother cow, because she is supplying milk. So according to our śāstra there are seven mothers. Ādau mātā, real mother, from whose body I have taken my birth. Ādau mātā, she is mother. Guru-patnī, the wife of teacher. She is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī, brāhmaṇī. The wife of a brāhmaṇa, she is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, the queen is mother. So how many? Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, then dhenu. Dhenu means cow. She is also mother. And dhātrī. Dhātrī means nurse. Dhenu dhātrī tathā pṛthvī, also the earth. Earth is also mother. The people are taking care of mother land, where he is born. That is good. But by the by they should take care of mother cow also.

Cow is your mother. You are drinking milk; therefore she is your mother. And the bull is helping you, producing your food, maintaining.

Lecture on BG 2.13-17 -- Los Angeles, November 29, 1968:

So then they sat down and talked. The first challenge was Caitanya Mahāprabhu's, that "My dear uncle, what is your this religion that you're eating father and mother?" That was His first challenge. And the Kazi said, "What is that? What do You mean by that?" "You are eating a bull and cow. Cow is your mother. You are drinking milk; therefore she is your mother. And the bull is helping you, producing your food, maintaining. As the father maintains you and mother gives you milk. And do you think it is good to kill them?" So Kazi, he was also learned, "Oh, Your Vedic scripture also, there is cow sacrifice." Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately said, "No, that is not killing. That was giving a new body to show the strength of the Vedic mantras."

Cow is our mother. Why? She is supplying milk. You are drinking milk. So you are killing cows? Oh, that's not good, killing mother.

Lecture on BG 4.1-2 -- Columbus, May 9, 1969:

Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā. Rāja-patnikā means a queen. And now there is no king, queen, but formerly there was king and queen. So queen is also mother because king is father. He is giving protection to the citizens. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā dhenuḥ, cow. Cow is our mother. Why? She is supplying milk. You are drinking milk. So you are killing cows? Oh, that's not good, killing mother. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī. Pṛthvī, that material nature, is also mother because by the material nature, I got this body.

The uncle replied, "What is that? I am killing our father and mother?" "Yes. Because the cow is your mother. She gives milk.

Lecture on BG 4.20-24 -- New York, August 9, 1966:

Now, Caitanya Mahāprabhu first of all inquired that the Muhammadan magistrate... They established their relation as the uncle and nephew. Caitanya Mahāprabhu became the nephew, and the Kazi, the magistrate, he became the uncle. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu addressed the uncle, "My dear uncle, why you are killing your father and mother?" So the uncle replied, "What is that? I am killing our father and mother?" "Yes. Because the cow is your mother. She gives milk. And the bull, he helps you in the agricultural fields. He produces grain. So just like father and mother—mother supplies milk and father brings grain—so they are your father and mother. How you are killing your father and mother?"

Just like father earns money for feeding the children, similarly, the bulls help producing, plowing, producing food grains, and the cow gives milk, mother.

Lecture on BG 13.35 -- Geneva, June 6, 1974:

How they will be happy? It is not possible. Most sinful activities. You produce your food. The bull will help you. And the cows will supply you milk. They are considered to be father and mother. Just like father earns money for feeding the children, similarly, the bulls help producing, plowing, producing food grains, and the cow gives milk, mother. And what is this civilization, killing father and mother? This is not good civilization. It will not stay. There will be catastrophe, waiting. Many times it has happened, and it will happen because transgressing the law of nature, or laws of God, is most sinful. That is sinful.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

From the very beginning of my life I am subsisting by the foodstuff given by mother, cow, and when I am grown up, I kill. This is my gratitude. Just see. And they are called civilized.

Lecture on SB 1.3.14 -- Los Angeles, September 19, 1972:

And the civilized men killing them, killing them. And they want peace. Just see the fun. Without touching your foodstuff, the cow is eating the grass which is given by God, immense grass, and they are giving you the finest foodstuff, milk. Just after your birth you have only to drink milk, either mother's milk... Nowadays, mothers do not supply milk. That is also to be supplied by the cow. So from the very beginning of my life I am subsisting by the foodstuff given by mother, cow, and when I am grown up, I kill. This is my gratitude. Just see. And they are called civilized. Less than lowest animal, narādhama. They are called narādhama, lowest of the mankind. Those who are killing cows, maintaining slaughterhouse, they are lowest of the mankind. They are not human being. Less than animal. They have no gratitude.

Your cow is your mother. You drink milk of cow. And the bull is your father. Because without bull, without the cow and bull being united, there is no milk.

Lecture on SB 1.16.3 -- Los Angeles, December 31, 1973:

That was discussed between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Chand Kazi, the Muhammadan magistrate of Nadia. He, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, challenged the Kazi, Muhammadan, that "What is your religion, that you eat your father and mother?" This was the challenge by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. What is that, father, mother? Now, mother, your cow is your mother. You drink milk of cow. And the bull is your father. Because without bull, without the cow and bull being united, there is no milk. So how is that you are eating your father and mother? It is a great challenge. Actually those who are meat-eater, beef-eater, they are killing their father and mother and become implicated in sinful life. Therefore we say no meat-eating.

Cow is our mother. Why mother? Because from practical point of view, we drink milk.

Lecture on SB 1.16.19 -- Hawaii, January 15, 1974:

So here another question is... The dharma uvāca. Personified dharma, he's inquiring from the cow. He's addressing cow, amba. Amba means mother. So cow is our mother. Why mother? Because from practical point of view, we drink milk. So how mother... How cow is not mother? She's mother. We are taking her milk. There are seven mothers according to Vedic civilization:

ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī

brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā

dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī

saptaitā mātaraḥ smṛtāḥ

Real mother, from whose womb we have come to this world, real mother, ātma-mātā. Then guroḥ patnī, wife of the teacher or spiritual master, guroḥ patnī. Brāhmaṇī, the wife of a brāhmaṇa. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, and the wife of the king, or the queen. She's also mother. Dhenu, the cow. Cow is also mother. And dhātrī means nurse. Nurse is also mother. Tathā pṛthvī, and the earth, the earth is also our mother. That we say in country, in the country which we take birth, we say deśa-mātṛkā. In Sanskrit it is called deśa-mātṛkā. That is also mother. Mother land, mother language. So this... So many mothers we have got, out of which, cow is also mother. Therefore she's addressed as amba. Amba means mother.

Yamarāja was foolish man, that he is addressing a cow as mother? This is civilization. It doesn't matter one is appearing as a cow or a man or a dog or a demigod or a civilized man, uncivilized man.

Lecture on SB 1.16.19 -- Los Angeles, July 9, 1974:

Here Yamarāja is addressing the cow as amba, mother. "Why you are so unhappy? From your face it appears." So Yamarāja was foolish man, that he is addressing a cow as mother? This is civilization. It doesn't matter one is appearing as a cow or a man or a dog or a demigod or a civilized man, uncivilized man. One who knows that the soul is there... Unless there is soul, how Yamarāja is asking the cow, "It appears that you are very much bereaved, so what is the cause, mother, of your bereavement?"

So this culture, that Yamarāja, is asking an animal, mother... Without any soul? No. Everyone has soul. The rascals, they do not know it. One has to become paṇḍita. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ (BG 5.18), in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said. So those who are actually learned, they know. They know that one may be a living entity, one may be a tree, one may be an animal, one may be a cow, one may be an elephant, one may be a learned brāhmaṇa scholar, one may be a caṇḍāla, untouchable. Everyone is a soul.

You have got sufficient grains, sufficient fruit, sufficient milk, and is it very nice thing that you take milk from the cow, who is your mother, and kill at the same time? Is that very good reason?

Lecture on SB 5.5.1 -- Los Angeles, January 20, 1969:

They're sensually conscious. That has to be changed. So Ṛṣabhadeva says that to satisfy our senses, that is also available in the life of a hog. Kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). Viḍ-bhujam, a animal who eats stool, viḍ-bhujam. That means the hog. The hog is also an animal, a living entity, and you'll find that it is working whole day, wherever there is stool, simply searching out. Research work—where there is stool. Because he has been made into that abominable condition of life that he is eating stool, he, still... Like Arabia, simply desert, sand. So for them, they can kill some animal and eat, because they cannot die for want of food. But here, in America, you have got sufficient foodstuff. Why should you kill animals? You have got sufficient grains, sufficient fruit, sufficient milk, and is it very nice thing that you take milk from the cow, who is your mother, and kill at the same time? Is that very good reason?

The same milk is supplied by the cow. She's actually mother, and this rascal civilization is killing mother. Mother-killing civilization.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Stockholm, September 9, 1973:

Before the child is born, you don't find in the breast of the mother any drop of milk. See. In a young girl, there is no milk in the breast. But as soon as the child is born, immediately there is milk. Immediately, spontaneously. This is God's arrangement. Because the child requires food. Just see how God's arrangement is there. Still, we are trying for economic development. If a child is born and God's economic program is so nice, nature's economic program, that immediately the mother is ready with the milk... This is economic development. So the same milk is supplied by the cow. She's actually mother, and this rascal civilization is killing mother. Mother-killing civilization. Just see. You suck the breast of your mother from the beginning of your life, and when she's old if you think, "Mother is useless burden. Cut its throat," is that civilization?

Brāhmaṇi, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, and rāja-patnikā, the queen, she is also mother, rāja. Dhenu, cow. Dhenu, dhātrī, nurse. Dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī, as well as the earth.

Lecture on SB 6.1.22 -- Honolulu, May 22, 1976:

Real mother and guru-patni, the wife of spiritual master or teacher. Ādau mātā guru-patni, brāhmaṇi, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, and rāja-patnikā, the queen, she is also mother, rāja. Dhenu, cow. Dhenu, dhātrī, nurse. Dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī, as well as the earth. Earth is mother because she is giving us so many things, fruits, flowers, grains for our eating. Mother gives for eating, cow gives us milk. This is sense. But if one becomes addicted to prostitute hunting then he will be fallen. That is the example. Then he'll become thief, rascal, cheater, drunkard, and so on, so on, so on. Why? Now, only for maintaining the family. The family maintenance, the cats and dogs, they also do, the birds also do, but they do not do anything unnatural. The bird maintains his children, brings some fruit or something in the mouth and push into mouth of the small kiddies.

Festival Lectures

You are killing your mother. Cow gives you milk, delivers milk. You drink the milk, and you kill the cow. Therefore you are killing your mother.

Govardhana Puja Lecture -- New York, November 4, 1966:

He started saṅkīrtana throughout the whole city of Nabadwip. Then they approached the magistrate's house. Just the other day there was a procession in your city. So this civil disobedience movement was started first by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Now, there was some compromising talk with the magistrate, and in that talk the Caitanya Mahāprabhu first questioned. Because he was Mohammedan, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "In your religion there is killing of father and mother. What sort of religion this is?" The Kazi replied, "How do you say that we are killing our father and...?" "Yes. You are killing your mother. Cow gives you milk, delivers milk. You drink the milk, and you kill the cow. Therefore you are killing your mother."

Initiation Lectures

Cow is also our mother. Just like we drink breast milk from my mother, similarly, we drink milk from mother cow. Therefore meat-eating is prohibited.

Initiations -- San Diego, June 30, 1972:

That is allowed. But illicit sex means your attachment for sex is increased, not for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it is forbidden. No meat-eating. Meat-eating or fish-eating or egg-eating, nonvegetarian diet, it is simply attachment of the tongue. Nobody dies without meat-eating. That's not a fact. When we were children, we were babies, we were depending on milk, either mother's breast milk or cow's milk. Therefore cow is also our mother. Just like we drink breast milk from my mother, similarly, we drink milk from mother cow. Therefore meat-eating is prohibited. You cannot kill your mother. That is a great sin. You cannot. But people have become so sinful that they have no consideration that "I am going to kill my mother. I am so ungrateful that the mother who supplied her blood to feed me, to keep me living, now I am grown-up, I am going to kill my mother."

General Lectures

Just like the discussion went on with the Kazi and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He first asked him that "Cow is your mother. Bull is your father. Why you are killing father and mother? What is your religion?"

Sunday Feast Lecture -- Atlanta, March 2, 1975:

In Christian religion it is clearly stated, "Thou shalt not kill." And most of the slaughterhouses are in the Christian countries. Why? This is all misunderstanding of spiritual life. Therefore... Just like the discussion went on with the Kazi and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There was no philosophy. He first asked him that "Cow is your mother. Bull is your father. Why you are killing father and mother? What is your religion? Is that very good philosophy, that you shall kill your father and mother and eat them?" This was the first question. According to Vedic civilization, cow is to be given all protection. The Hindus or followers of the Vedic religion, why they are interested to give protection to the cows, not to the..., not so much to the other animals? And Lord Christ is more liberal. He said, "Thou shalt not kill."

Cow, is my mother. Dhātrī, the nurse, is my mother. Tathā pṛthvī. Also earth is also my mother. So mātā is there, and the sons are there.

Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 29, 1977, (with Oriyan translator):

According to our śāstra, there are seven mothers: my original mother, ādau-mātā... Guroḥ patnī is my mother. Dhenu, cow, is my mother. Dhātrī, the nurse, is my mother. Tathā pṛthvī. Also earth is also my mother. So mātā is there, and the sons are there. How you can deny, that "There is no father"? I may not see my father, but there is father; there is no doubt of it. That pitā is personally presenting Himself-ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā: (BG 14.4) "I am the seed-giving father."

So therefore... So God is there, and there is no doubt of it, but because, due to our foolishness, we think there is no God, there is no father, that is our foolishness. But what is that God, how He is, what is His business, how He is formed—all these things we want to learn, and human life is meant for that purpose.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Oh, you are killing cow, your mother. You are drinking milk. And oxen, he produces grains for you in the field; so he is your father.

Lord Caitanya Play Told to Tamala Krsna -- August 4, 1969, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: So do you think a nephew can be very angry upon his uncle?" And (chuckling) He said, "No, nephew must be obedient to the uncle. But do you think that uncle, when a nephew comes to his house, will not receive him?" "Oh yes. You are welcome. You are my nephew. You are my son." In this way the past incidences forgotten. Then they sat down. Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked him, "My dear uncle, what is your religion that you are killing father and mother?" "Why killing father and mother?" "Oh, you are killing cow, your mother. You are drinking milk. And oxen, he produces grains for you in the field; so he is your father. The father earns for the children, so he is producing grains. And mother gives milk; so cow is giving milk. So how is your religion that the father mother killing?"

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Pṛthvī means earth. These are seven mothers. So cow is mother because we drink milk, cow's milk.

Room Conversation with Cardinal Danielou -- August 9, 1973, Paris:

Prabhupāda: Rāja-patnikā, the wife of king, the queen.

Yogeśvara: (translates)

Prabhupāda: Four. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, dhenur. Dhenu means cow. Dhenur dhātrī. Dhātrī means nurse. Tathā pṛthvī. Pṛthvī means earth. These are seven mothers. So cow is mother because we drink milk, cow's milk.

Cardinal Danielou: Yes.

Prabhupāda: How can I deny that she's not mother? So how we can support killing of mother?

Cardinal Danielou: Yes, yes, it is a motive. But we think that...

Prabhupāda: Therefore, in India, those who are meat-eaters, they are advised... That is also under restriction. Advised to kill some lower animals like goats, even up to buffaloes. But cow killing is the greatest sin.

Cardinal Danielou: Yes, yes, we... I know this. I know this. And this is for us a difficulty, a difficulty...

Prabhupāda: Yes, because the cow is mother.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Any sane man will admit it. Cow is giving milk-mother. And bull is producing food—he is father. And they are being killed? Is that human society?

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: What, his nonsense idea. From the result we see nobody is happy. What is this idea? They have big, big scientists, big, big politicians, big, big..., but where is it people are happy? They are simply fighting. Now, recently in Rome, Italy, the Communists and the Fascists fought, and six innocent person died. So where is the benefit of this United Nations? They do not have really brain. Manufacturing something, concocting something. That's all. Where is the brain? They have no discrimination between sinful activities and pious activities.

Yogeśvara: He admitted it.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Any sane man will admit it. Cow is giving milk-mother. And bull is producing food—he is father. And they are being killed? Is that human society? How they can be happy? There is no possibility. Regularly they are maintaining slaughterhouse especially for the cows and bulls. Why don't you slaughter the dogs and hogs and eat if you are meat-eater? There are many meat-eaters who eat dogs. Dog is useless. You can eat. Hog is also useless.

From moral point of view, we are drinking milk from the cow, so she is mother.

Room Conversation with Scientists -- July 2, 1974, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: Elephant is a big animal, and at least fifty times more than cow, there is flesh. But it is not recommended. But the cow protection is recommended because it has got the miracle food, milk, and from milk you can prepare hundreds of preparation, all nutritious, full of vitamin A and D. So therefore it is recommended, go-rakṣya. It is not that meat-eating is stopped. Meat-eaters may kill other non-important animals but don't kill animal, er, cow. And besides that, from moral point of view, we are drinking milk from the cow, so she is mother. According to Vedic understanding there are seven kinds of mother: ādau mātā, real mother. Ādau mātā, guru patnī, the wife of guru, spiritual master. Ādau mātā, guru patnī, brāhmaṇī, the wife of a brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa means the most intelligent class of men in the society. Who are brāhmaṇa, that is also mentioned there in the śāstra.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Everyone takes milk. The cow is the mother. Mother gives milk. And mother, when she cannot supply milk, mother should be cut up.

Morning Walk -- May 10, 1975, Perth:

Prabhupāda: Anyone who takes milk... Everyone takes milk. The cow is the mother. Mother gives milk. And mother, when she cannot supply milk, mother should be cut up. Is that a very good philosophy? Is it human philosophy? What is the answer? But if you say that somebody wants to, say in your country majority they want to eat meat. So, if you put that argument, then you can eat some lower animals. You can eat the pigs. You are eating also, pigs. Not in a massive scale. Massive scale—if you are Christian you should follow your religious scripture: "Thou shall not kill!" This should be the principle. But if you are a rākṣasa, if you want to eat meat, then at least don't kill the cows. You can eat other, insignificant animals. You are eating also. You are eating everything. Except the moving cars, you are eating all the moving animals. The car also moves, but you cannot eat.

You are taking milk from the cow, it is your mother. You take milk, that in Australia they produce so much milk, butter, and everything. And after it is finished, cut the throat and make business, send to other countries. What is this nonsense?

Room Conversation with Director of Research of the Dept. of Social Welfare -- May 21, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: No, you can eat meat, but you cannot eat meat by killing your father and mother. That is human sense. You are taking milk from the cow, it is your mother. You take milk, that in Australia they produce so much milk, butter, and everything. And after it is finished, cut the throat and make business, send to other countries. What is this nonsense? Is that humanity? Do you think?

Director: Well, say two hundred years ago people to survive the winter had to kill the...

Prabhupāda: No, no. You take your mother's milk. You take your mother's milk, and when the mother cannot supply milk you kill her. What is this? Is that humanity? And nature is so strong, for this injustice, sinful, you must suffer. You must be prepared to suffer. So there will be war, and wholesale will be killed.

What is this civilization, killing the mother? In the morning we require milk immediately, and the mother cow is supplying. And when she cannot supply, kill her. What is this philosophy?

Room Conversation with Dr. John Mize -- June 23, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Why the state hangs a man when he kills a man? The man can plead that "So many animals are being killed every day. If I kill one man, what is the wrong there?" The punishment is that "You have killed one important animal." Therefore the Bhaga..., kṛṣi-go-rakṣya, that cow should be protected because it is a very, very, important animal. It does not say, "Other animal." Or does not say, "All animals." He said, "Cows," because important. It's supplying you milk, so important food. She is your mother and you are killing mother? Is that your civilization? Killing mother? "Mother is old, and mother is no more supplying milk. Kill." Is there any such sanction? Rather, old mother is given more protection. And what is this civilization, killing the mother? In the morning we require milk immediately, and the mother cow is supplying. And when she cannot supply, kill her. What is this philosophy?

From moral point of view it is not good because you drink cow's milk, so cow is your mother.

Garden Conversation with Professors -- June 24, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: You are drinking milk, your mother, and you are killing. This killing and that killing is not the same thing. According to Vedic civilization the cow is to be given special protection. Why it is recommended for the cow? It does not say of other animal. When animal killing is required according to Vedic civilization, those who are meat-eaters, they are allowed to kill some insignificant animal like deer, goat, pigs. It is for the animal eaters, not for all. But if one is bent upon... And there are persons, they want meat-eating. So for them these unimportant animals are recommended. But cow is very important animal. You get from its milk so many nutritious food. So apart from religious sentiment, from economic point of view, cow-killing is not good. And from moral point of view it is not good because you drink cow's milk, so cow is your mother. According to Vedic civilization, there are seven mothers.

Cow is mother because you are drinking her milk.

Garden Conversation with Professors -- June 24, 1975, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Ādau-mātā, real mother, and guru-patnī, the wife of guru or teacher, she is also mother 'cause teacher is father. Ādau-mātā guroḥ patnī brahmaṇi, the wife of a brāhmaṇa. She is mother. Ādau-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhm..., rāja-patnikā, the queen, the wife of the king. She is mother. And then cow is mother because you are drinking her milk. Ādau-mātā guroḥ patnī brahmaṇi rāja-patnikā, dhenur dhatrī, nurse. Nurse is also mother because you suck the breast of the nurse. Therefore according to Vedic civilization, there are seven mothers. So you cannot kill your mother. That is not very good philosophy. And who can deny, "The cow is not mother"? Who has got this audacity? You are drinking milk in the very morning. Christ says, "Thou shall not kill?—wholesale killing stop." And the Vedic literature is little liberal. It does not say, "Thou shall not kill," but, "You shall not kill at least cow."

Cow is mother. What is this philosophy, "Kill the mothers and eat?" "Kill the child and eat?" What is this nonsense?

Room Conversation -- July 31, 1975, New Orleans:

Prabhupāda: "Guru is so sattvic, spiritual; let me eat guru. Then I will be..." (laughter) This is philosophy. Cow is so full of vitamin, valuable. But civilization is that "Why should you eat the animal? Take the milk." What is this milk? Milk is nothing but the blood. So civilization means let the cow live, and you take the milk, which is nothing but blood. When the mother feeds the child with milk, wherefrom the milk comes? Milk comes from the blood of the mother. Therefore the mother is supplied nutritious food so that she can produce milk for the child. Similarly, cow is mother. What is this philosophy, "Kill the mothers and eat?" "Kill the child and eat?" What is this nonsense? Such crude things are going on in the name of civilization. You are manufacturing billion motor cars, and you cannot manufacture your food? God has given you so much land. This is not civilization. Civilization is how to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is civilization. One should be intelligent enough.

The bull is considered as father and the cow as mother. Mother gives milk, and the bull grows food grains for man.

Walk Around Farm -- August 1, 1975, New Orleans:

Prabhupāda: They will grow, and they will eat. Rather, they will help you for your eating. The father also eats, but he maintains the family. Therefore the bull is considered as father and the cow as mother. Mother gives milk, and the bull grows food grains for man. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu first challenged that Kazi that "What is your religion, that you eat your father and mother?" Both the bulls and the cows are important because the bull will produce food grain and the cow will give supply milk. They should be utilized properly. That is human intelligence.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Cow is your mother and bull is your father. You are killing them. The bull is giving you grains by working in the field, and the mother is giving you milk, and you are killing them.

Morning Walk -- February 3, 1976, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the Kazi. His first question was that "What kind of religion you are following? You are killing your father and mother?" This was His beginning of the talk. "What kind of religion it is?" "How is that? I am killing my father, mother?" "Yes, cow is your mother and bull is your father. You are killing them. The bull is giving you grains by working in the field, and the mother is giving you milk, and you are killing them." This was his first question. So this is a civilization of killing father and mother. All over the world they are killing bulls and cows. In England there is law that you can maintain a cow but you cannot maintain a bull. It must be killed. Yes. When I was a guest in John Lennon's house the manager in charge, he was telling me. "You cannot keep bull. This is our law." I learned from him.

Cow is mother because we drink her milk. She supplies milk. That's mother.

Room Conversation with Reporter -- June 3, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Ātma-mātā means original mother, real mother. And guroḥ patnī, the wife of teacher. The wife of a brāhmaṇa. Brāhmaṇa means the most intellectual class of men in the human society, brāhmaṇa. It is not a caste. It is a section in every human society. Always, there is a class of men very intelli..., intelligent. They are called brāhmaṇa. So, ātma-mātā, guroḥ patnī, brāhmaṇī, rāja-patnikā, and the queen—formerly there were kings—she is also considered mother. And dhenu means cow is mother because we drink her milk. She supplies milk. That's mother. And pṛthvī, in the earth, we are coming out. Earth is mother. Really we see coming. And there may be different varieties of sons. That doesn't matter. But anything coming out the earth—the earth is mother—and that is coming out, that is son. Then where is the father? There must be father. Is it possible mother can give birth to a child without father?

Vedic civilization is as you are drinking milk from the cow, she's your mother. Actually she's mother. But what is this civilization, killing mother?

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: Barbians, ah, barbarians. In the jungle, the barbarians, they do not know how to produce food, how to utilize milk. They can kill animals. That is also not like this, by machine you kill thousands of cows. They did not know this. For their simple eating they might have killed some animals, not particularly cow. Perhaps they were not killing cows because they were getting milk. Other, nonimportant animals. But what is this civilization? I learned that in South Africa, before killing the cows, they take the last drop of milk, and then it is sent to the slaughterhouse. They are so expert that if there is still little milk, take it before her death. Is that civilization, that you are taking milk...? So Vedic civilization is as you are drinking milk from the cow, she's your mother. Actually she's mother. But what is this civilization, killing mother? Hm? Is that civilization? Take from mother whatever she can deliver up to the last drop of milk, and then kill her. Advanced civilization, scientific. Killing scientifically. This is not civilization.

We are taking milk from the cow. The cow is not my mother? Who can live without milk? And who has not taken cow's milk?

Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit:

Prabhupāda: Lower class of men, they were taking hogs and dogs. Still, they are taking. So if you want meat, you can kill these unimportant animals. Why you are killing the animal whose last drop of milk you require? What is the sense? And as soon as you take Kṛṣṇa, He killed Pūtanā but gave her the position of the mother. Because Kṛṣṇa felt obliged, that "Whatever the Pūtanā's intention may be, but I sucked her breast, so she's My mother." So we are taking milk from the cow. The cow is not my mother? Who can live without milk? And who has not taken cow's milk? Immediately, in the morning, you require milk. And the animal, she's supplying milk, she's not mother? What is the sense? Mother-killing civilization. And they want to be happy. And periodically there is great war and wholesale massacre, reaction.

Morally, cow is our mother. How these mothers are being killed? That is the question.

Room Conversation -- June 17, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: Yes. That's a fact. No, it may be there are so many other foods, but cent percent of the human society, everyone, has some way or other taken milk. So morally, cow is our mother. How these mothers are being killed? That is the question. Where is morality? Where is...? And they are drawing last drop of the milk. And there is necessity of milk. "After taking whatever money you have got..., take, I shall kill you." What is this? Horrible society. If I take from you whatever you have got in your pocket and then I kill you.... What is this society?

Cow is mother, and you cannot kill on any ground the mother. That is not good reasoning.

Evening Darsana -- July 8, 1976, Washington, D.C.:

Prabhupāda: On the whole, paśu-hiṁsā, any animal killing, is not good for spiritual life. And so far vegetable is concerned, everyone has to eat something. So if you can eat vegetables, that does not mean because somebody is killing vegetables, he should kill his own father and mother on that plea. So cow is mother because we are drinking her milk. So you cannot put any argument in favor of killing mother. If you... Anyone who supplies milk from the body, she is mother. According to Vedic civilization, cow is one of the seven mothers. There are seven mothers: the real mother, ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī, the wife of spiritual master; then queen, rāja-patnikā. Ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī brāhmaṇī, the wife of a brāhmaṇa. In this way, especially, seven mothers, dhenu, dhenu means cow, and dhātrī, nurse, she is also mother. So from that point of view, cow is mother, and you cannot kill on any ground the mother. That is not good reasoning. You are taking the last drop of milk.

1970 Correspondence

Because we drink cow's milk, we should accept the cow as our mother. That is etiquette.

Letter to Nayanabhirama -- Bombay 1 December, 1970:

If you can keep cows, it is very good. You'll get fresh milk. That's a great benefit. To take care of the cow is a religious function for the Hindus but actually if care is taken for cows, it delivers us the miracle food—cow's milk, which is so valuable. And because we drink cow's milk, we should accept the cow as our mother. That is etiquette.

Someday when the opportunity comes for film-making you can do so. If you can make bona fide films it is welcome. Then I can help you by directing. So far as exporting films that is not possible.