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Vegans don't buy milk because of the cruel life dairy cows are subjected to and because they eventually get slaughtered. Given that cows are sacred for Hindus I was wondering if Hindus share the concern with vegans about the treatment and fate of dairy cows, and are required by their religion to buy only milk obtained from milk production facilities or operations whose cows are not sent to be slaughtered.

Related questions:

Consuming milk and dairy causes bad karma?

Eating Beef as a Hindu (specially enlightening regarding the issue)

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freethinker36
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  • For eg- Are u saying if cows are not known to be slaughtered in a city X, one should buy cow milk from that city only Or u meant something else? Because apparently the Q does not make any sense, coz none buy milk from slaughter houses. – Rickross Sep 17 '17 at 05:20
  • @Rickross I clarified the question. – freethinker36 Sep 17 '17 at 06:53
  • Hindus are not Vegans but Vegetarians. We consume dairy products such as milk. We consume milk of cow. See Do Hindus consume milk products? – The Destroyer Sep 17 '17 at 06:56
  • @TheDestroyer I know that Hindus are not vegans but I wanted to mention what vegans say about drinking milk because I thought Hindus might share the same concerns about the treatment of cows in the milk production process. – freethinker36 Sep 17 '17 at 07:01
  • OK but i don't think that there is any way to know that beforehand. – Rickross Sep 17 '17 at 07:11
  • @rickross Strange that no one answers it. Is there some other problem with my question that I'm not detecting? – freethinker36 Sep 17 '17 at 17:09
  • @TheDestroyer I think with all your reputation you could have provided a little bit more information like Ram in the great answer below did. For some reason you limited yourself to provide a non-answer. – freethinker36 Sep 18 '17 at 03:49
  • You have now got an answer but i am afraid that it is not addressing ur main question? @freethinker36 – Rickross Sep 18 '17 at 04:55
  • @rickross I just noticed it. It is a very informative answer but it does not answer the question. You have 20,000 reputation, so that means you are very knowledgeable about Hinduism why don't you provide an answer? – freethinker36 Sep 18 '17 at 05:19
  • @freethinker36 Reputation does not always indicate knowledge. Also i don't think that i can answer this. If i could i have already done. I have not read anything of that sort so far. Also how to ascertain beforehand the fate of the cow from which i am collecting the milk? So, IMO it is unanswerable but u never know, someone may come up with an answer too. – Rickross Sep 18 '17 at 05:22
  • How to ascertain? Because the regular practice of most dairy operations is to slaughter the cows after their production declines. At least in the USA. – freethinker36 Sep 18 '17 at 05:37
  • @freethinker36 Ok but in India it may not be so the case. Anyways will look for references. My personal opinion is that you can take because cows milk is always pure and full of divinity. Certain God is present in it. So irrespective of what happens to the Cow afterwards u can still acquire the milk. – Rickross Sep 18 '17 at 05:40
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    @freethinker36 Hinduism is very vast and one's reputation is not measure of proper knowledge in all aspects. Moreover, this site enforces strict rule of citing sources. I know cows are being exploited in milk production but many Hindus (who are Hindus for name sake) don't bother about fate of cows. Cows are sent to Goshalas (cow sheds) if they stop producing milk and many hindu organizations maintain cow sheds. – The Destroyer Sep 18 '17 at 06:25

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Cow's milk is a very satvik food (mode of goodness, per ISKCON terminology).

But it is satvik if and only if the cow's OWN calf drank from the mother first.
It is satvik if and only if the cow is protected in its olden days when it can no longer give milk.
It is satvik if and only if the first 10 days after birthing colostrum milk is given to calf only, not for human consumption.

Basically, we must not steal from the cow, it must be a mutual give & take. There are many restrictions for a cow's milk to be very satvik (native indian breeds like those in brindavana, no artificial insemination)

Source - Ahara Niyama

There is a saying:

a woman past her beauty, a soldier past his strength, and a cow past its milch-days must not be cast aside

i.e. don't adopt use & throw mentality. Because the same fate may befall you one-day, when you're feeble and sick, your own children may not care for you (karma will find its way).

Unfortunately nowadays in Kali Yuga, it is very hard to find such facilities, even in India. So I try to buy organic milk, or from goshala or local farmer whenever possible.

ram
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