"Journey to the West" is one of the four famous works of the mainland, which mainly tells the story of the four Tang monks and apprentices who set out from the Eastern Tang Dynasty and finally obtained the True Scriptures in Tianzhu after experiencing 9981 difficulties.
At that time, it was also today's India, which is a unified multi-ethnic country composed of more than 100 ethnic groups, and one of the four ancient civilizations.
India regards cattle as holy relics, and people cannot be seen eating beef in the local area. Not only do people not eat beef, but cow urine is also in the hot selling ranks in the local area.
Why does India enshrine cattle as holy relics? Indians don't eat beef, so how do cows end up dealing with it?
Religious beliefs in India
India regards cattle as holy relics and has a lot to do with local religious beliefs. India is one of the countries most deeply influenced by religion in the world, so much so that religious culture plays an indispensable role in the lives of its people, playing a decisive role.
Hinduism is the most important religion in the country, with more than 80% of the population devoutly practicing it.
Hinduism also has three main gods, namely Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Brahma is the god of creation, Vishnu is the patron saint, and Shiva is the god of destruction.
Among them, Shiva, because of his unparalleled creativity and destructive power, was worshipped by the Indian people as the actual strongest god of Hinduism, and occupied an irreplaceable position in the hearts of the local people.
India regards the cow as a holy relic simply because The mount under The Crotch of Shiva is a white bull, and when people see the cow, they are equivalent to seeing Shiva, and they are naturally full of awe.
The god of destruction, Shiva
Why is Shiva worshipped by the native people of India as the strongest god of Hinduism, so that his mount is also enshrined as a holy relic, and he does not dare to desecrate?
The most devout faith of the Indian people is because of Shiva's spirit of righteous devotion.
She used her head to take on the water of the Ganges and brought the people of India a source of life. The Ganges is the mother river of India, and the goddess of the Ganges came to earth is a very famous myth in India.
Legend has it that a king brought more abundant water to his people in order to invite the Ganges to the earth, making the country more prosperous and powerful. After an incomparably long period of asceticism and suffering a lot of suffering, he finally impressed the goddess of the Ganges and The Lord Shiva.
Just when the goddess of the Ganges decided to descend on earth, the king worried that the land of the earth could not bear the speed and impact of the Ganges. Just when everyone was at a loss, Lord Shiva decided to use his head to take on the Ganges.
Finally, with the help of Shiva, the Ganges succeeded in descending into the human world. Water is the source of life, with the Ganges, people's lives have become more convenient, and the image of Shiva has become taller and taller in the hearts of the Indian people. It is for this reason that even Shiva's mount is revered as a holy relic.
The hierarchy of cattle
India regards cattle as holy relics, and if you live in India, you will often see such a scene, the cow slowly dangling in the street, but no one has ever shouted loudly. Even when cattle are blocking the way, people will take a detour or wait patiently for them to walk before starting to walk.
According to the local people, once a cow ran to the railway track without knowing what was going on, and when people noticed, it was walking toward the middle of the track.
At the same time, everyone heard the sound of train whistles in the distance. Everyone panicked and immediately stopped what was going on, the vendors stopped cooperating, the drivers turned off the lights and got out of the car, and even the children of a few years old stopped chasing and ran in the direction where the cow was.
By the time they rushed breathlessly to the train tracks, the cow was already in the middle of the tracks, and the train was already moving toward it within the visible range.
Some people induce it with food, and some people guide it by whistling, hoping that it can leave the center of the tracks and return to a safe area, but to no avail.
Watching the train getting closer and closer, everyone was at a loss. Finally, when all the methods had been used, people spontaneously crawled to the ground, asking the gods for their protection.
In the end, the cow was safe and sound. It is the train conductor who activates the emergency device, risking damage to the train and forcing the train to stop.
When they learned that the cow was all right, everyone present wept with joy, some embracing it and kissing it, as a way to express the unspeakable excitement in their hearts.
In order to protect a cow, the Indian people are willing to risk losing a train, which shows how noble the status of the cow is in India, and even cow urine has become something with some divine power in people's eyes.
Cow urine is highly valued and regarded as a daily necessity. Especially when there is a small illness and a small disaster, cow urine is used as a life-saving medicine to drink. According to books, cow urine does have a certain therapeutic effect.
But in India, not all cattle can enjoy this treatment, and only the Shiva mounted tumor cattle breed will receive special treatment.
As we all know, in India, Hinduism divides man into four hierarchical systems: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vedas, and Sudras.
India not only divides people into grades, but cattle are also divided into three, six, nine, etc., and there are roughly three grades: tumor cattle, cattle cattle, and buffalo.
In addition to the holy relic of the tumor cow, other breeds of cattle such as cattle and buffalo will also face the fate of being trafficked and slaughtered.
The tumor cow is the first holy relic, and people see the tumor cow full of reverence, and some believers even make cow dung into cow dung cake and eat it.
This breed of cattle is often cared for by a dedicated person, and when they die, a solemn funeral is held.
The scalper ranks second, and although it is not as good as the tumor cow, it is much happier than the buffalo that works hard. With the needs of economic development, scalpers are sometimes sold abroad to boost India's GDP growth.
India's lowest cattle are buffalo, and even the indian locals do not put buffalo in the ranks of cattle at all, but only regard them as livestock, as productive forces.
When the buffalo in India were young and strong, they worked hard day and night, doing the dirtiest and most tiring work, but eating the coarsest food, and even starving. When you are old and can't do heavy work, the end is often very miserable.
The situation of Indian cattle is inseparable from the local cultural, political, economic and other factors in India, and each country and each region will have its own unique customs, and we should look at it with an inclusive and harmonious attitude.