ABSTRACT
A common image associated with Indian daily life, and Hindu life more specifically, is the integral presence of and reverence for cows. How is one to understand the relationship of bovines with religion in India? For many people of India, this relationship is marked by a prominent living tradition of “cow protection” (go-rakṣa in Sanskrit and Hindi). This tradition is, in turn, seen in the widespread maintenance of cow shelters or sanctuaries, where cows live out their natural lifespan (generally 15 to 20 years). While cows are seen as rendering numerous material benefits to humans, their lifelong care is seen as a religious responsibility that provides essential spiritual benefits for humans and the environment as a whole. Considering the current pressures of modernization and globalization that are working against the cow care tradition, here we look briefly at how the cow, as a symbol of religion, relates to and impacts living, protected bovines and their Hindu caretakers today.
