Vaiśya, they should be trained in three things, productive—kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44)—kṛṣi, agriculture; go-rakṣya, cow protection. Go-rakṣya. That is essential, agricultural and cow protection. And vāṇijyam. Vāṇijyam means trade. If there is excess milk product, if there is excess grain product, then you can sell to others. Nowadays the trade is that you take as much milk as you can, and then kill the animal and sell the flesh to other countries. That is going on. No. Go-rakṣya. Go-rakṣya. Cow protection is very, very essential in human society because it gives the milk, the miracle food. You can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparation, all not only delicious, but brain-maintaining. You can get good brain. Therefore go-rakṣya, cow protection is especially recommended, not that animal protection. If you want to eat meat, you can eat many other animals. There are. But don't eat the cows. This is Vedic civilization. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44).
Milk is the miracle food
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
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.
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. But Mahārāja Parīkṣit and the Pāṇḍavas were fully conscious of the importance of the cow and bull, and they were prepared to punish the cow-killer with all chastisement, including death. There has sometimes been agitation for the protection of the cow, but for want of pious executive heads and suitable laws, the cow and the bull are not given protection. The human society should recognize the importance of the cow and the bull and thus give all protection to these important animals, following in the footsteps of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. For protecting the cows and brahminical culture, the Lord, who is very kind to the cow and the brāhmaṇas (go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya), will be pleased with us and will bestow upon us real peace.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Madhya-lila
The inhabitants of the village brought to the Deity of Gopāla as much food grains, ghee, yogurt and milk as they had in their village.
Anna, ghṛta, dadhi and dugdha are food grains, ghee, yogurt and milk. Actually these are the basis of all food. Vegetables and fruits are subsidiary. Hundreds and thousands of preparations can be made out of grains, vegetables, ghee, milk and yogurt. The food offered to Gopāla in the Annakūṭa ceremony contained only these five ingredients. Only demoniac people are attracted to other types of food, which we will not even mention in this connection. We should understand that in order to prepare nutritious food, we require only grains, ghee, yogurt and milk. We cannot offer anything else to the Deity. The Vaiṣṇava, the perfect human being, does not accept anything not offered to the Deity. People are often frustrated with national food policies, but from the Vedic scriptures we find that if there are sufficient cows and grains, the entire food problem is solved. The vaiśyas (people engaged in agriculture and commerce) are therefore recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā to produce grains and give protection to cows. Cows are the most important animal because they produce the miracle food, milk, from which we can prepare ghee and yogurt.
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: From milk you can prepare hundreds and thousands of preparations.
Dr. Harrap: Oh, yes. Yes. Even in cheeses there are probably hundreds of varieties.
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. We make. We actually make. At least ten, twenty kinds of sweet preparation we make from the cheese. Therefore our, as recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. People... A class of men should be trained up for agriculture, producing food grain, and cow protection. Cow protection means you get the milk, sufficient quantity, and from milk you get so many nutritious, full of vitamin food.
Dr. Harrap: It's a complete food in itself.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Those who are meat-eaters, they can eat other non-important animals, but cows must be saved, even from economic point of view. Here it is said that go-rakṣya. It does not say, Kṛṣṇa, "elephant-rakṣya." 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.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Anything nonsense you do, that is scientific, artist.
Pañcadraviḍa: Now the scientists have another plan for changing all the plastic to eatable foodstuffs.
Prabhupāda: No.
Pañcadraviḍa: There's something they put on the plastic so you can now eat it.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Just like the Germans, they extracted fat from stool. And that was used as butter. This is scientific. They'll have to eat stool even. They have eaten. In the last war, concentration camp, they have eaten their own stool. There was no food. So nature will punish them in that way. They'll eat everything. This godless civilization will lead people to such condition of life. Kadharya bhakṣaṇa kare, tara janma adho pate yaya. This life they will eat everything, all nonsense thing, and next life they become pig, cats, dogs. That's all. This will be.
Nalinī-kānta: The scientists are saying that milk is the major cause for heart attack. Milk is a very harmful food. It causes heart attack.
Prabhupāda: Just see. Milk is the miracle food, and they are condemning by a scientific process.
Pañcadraviḍa: These Chinese people, they hate to drink milk. They like to take yogurt and butter and things, but they won't drink milk.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is yogurt as healthy as milk?
Prabhupāda: No. Yogurt is healthy when you cannot digest properly. One who can digest, for him, milk is better.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Hari-śauri: In that newspaper article in the Butler Eagle, that very first article when you just arrived that we saw? They showed that copy in Los Angeles. It mentioned, the reporter there, he quoted you as saying that—you were telling him about milk, how good it was—and he quoted you as saying that milk is the miracle food for babies and old men.
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?
Prabhupāda: Ghee can be produced immense. I have studied. Immensely, you can produce, by keeping cows. Kṛṣṇa has recommended, go-rakṣya. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. The go-rakṣya is essential. It is not that animal slaughter stopping, no. Kṛṣṇa could have said paśu-rakṣya. No, Kṛṣṇa has not said. Go-rakṣya. Those who are animal eaters, they can indulge in eating other insignificant animals.
Dr. Patel: I think go-rakṣya must be the backbone of the economy.
Prabhupāda: No, health, brain, everything. Milk is miracle food. And we are practically experiencing in our farms that if the cows are protected nicely, they can supply immense milk. We are getting in our farms, extra milk. Everyone is eating so many preparations, sandeśa, rasagullā, rābrī. They are surprised. In their history they have not eaten all these things.
Dr. Patel: They are eating the milk-producing animal so milk will not...
Prabhupāda: No, they advertise milk is bad.
Dr. Patel: Who?
Prabhupāda: These Europeans, Americans.
Dr. Patel: Really?
Prabhupāda: Yes. "Don't eat milk." Do they not? And they cannot drink also. In Bengal there is a proverb, kule pete ghiya(?) (indistinct). If you supply preparation made of ghee to the dog, he cannot digest it.
Guest: (quotes proverb in Bengali)
Prabhupāda: Ha! They cannot digest factually. They get, what is called? That disease?
Harikeśa: Jaundice.
Prabhupāda: Jaundice. They cannot eat much milk product.
Dr. Patel: Yes, sir. Cow is the biggest factory to produce protein, first-class proteins for human beings. Instead of taking advantage of the products of the factory, they eat out the factory itself.
Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
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.
| Page Title: | Milk is the miracle food |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika |
| Created: | 19 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=1, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=4, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 8 |