All animals are said to be in the mode of ignorance. Then is the cow also in the mode of ignorance? If yes, then why is it consdered sacred?

Question. As all animals are in the mode of ignorance, is the cow also in the mode of ignorance? If so, then why is it worshipped? Answer. Certainly, all animals are in the mode of ignorance.
And so, the cow is also in the mode of ignorance. At the same time, the cow is associated with Lord Krishna. And because it is associated with Lord Krishna, because the cow is dear to Lord Krishna, and devotees want to please Lord Krishna, so we also worship, at least care for specially, the cow.
Now, the three modes of material nature don’t ever cover the spiritual essence of a living entity. But they do cover the awareness of that spiritual essence. So, the soul in a cow’s body is, in that sense, not aware of its own spiritual essence.
And at times, in the Srimad Bhagavatam, an unintelligent person is compared to either a donkey or even a cow. A person who identifies with the body, one who thinks his own body to be his self, that person is like a Gokhara, a cow or a donkey. So, when we are evaluating creation from a philosophical perspective, then even the Vedic literature themselves, which talk about the need to respect cow, also talk about the need to recognize that we have to go beyond ignorance, and animal bodies cover the soul with ignorance, and even a cow’s body is covered with ignorance.
So, when we are trying to cultivate a philosophical vision, a Jnana Chakshu, at that time it is important to recognize that, yes, the cow is in the mode of ignorance. But when we are trying to cultivate a Bhakti Chakshu, a devotional vision, we are concerned not so much with trying to surpass ignorance as we are trying to please Krishna. So, philosophy has its place and philosophy is important on the spiritual path.
But philosophy is not all important. Ultimately, the philosophical understanding that I am not the body, I am the soul, in and of itself cannot liberate us. We have to not only understand that I am the soul, but we have to act on the platform of the soul.
And acting on the platform of the soul means loving Krishna, because the soul has an eternal loving relationship with Krishna. So, when we talk about making spiritual advancement, at one level it means getting philosophical understanding and insight, by which we can discriminate between matter and spirit, between body and soul. And from that perspective, even the cow’s body is in a mode of ignorance.
And Bhagavatam also talks in that way at times. But when we try to act on the platform of the soul and try to develop our love for Krishna, then we focus not primarily on what is material and what is spiritual, we focus on what will please Krishna. And we will do whatever it is that will please Krishna.
And because the scriptures describe how much Krishna is affectionate to the cow, and Krishna is known as Gopal, in fact, his own name, generally the name of a person is very close to that person. And Krishna considers the cow so close to him that he loves to have himself being addressed by a name that depicts his relationship with the cows. So, when we are concerned with pleasing Krishna, at that time we adopt a devotional vision.
And when we adopt a devotional vision, at that time we are concerned, how can I please Krishna? And one very important way, as is told in the scriptures, to please Krishna is to serve cows. So, when we serve cows, through that we are serving an entity that is very dear to Krishna, and through that we are pleasing Krishna. So, we should not confuse the philosophical and the devotional visions and alienate ourselves from those aspects of spirituality that can lead to spiritual advancement.
For example, if a person is sick, if a devotee is sick, at that time, if we just stick to a philosophical vision, a Jnana Chakshu, we may say that, oh, this person is suffering because of his own bad karma. And we may become cold-hearted, hard-hearted. Yes, all the suffering that is coming in this world is because of that person, everyone’s own bad karma.
But if we have a devotional vision, then if a devotee is having any suffering, we consider, here Krishna has given me an opportunity to render devotional service. And, okay, this devotee is having some difficulty. Normally, devotees may not accept service, but now Krishna has given me an opportunity to serve the devotee.
So, let me take that opportunity and serve this devotee. And through this, we will make more spiritual advancement, much, much more spiritual advancement than the attitude that when we see a devotee suffering, see, the devotee is just suffering his own karma. So, this doesn’t mean that philosophy is unimportant, but philosophy has its place.
If we have philosophy, but we don’t use the philosophy to ultimately increase our attraction for Krishna, to increase our service to Krishna, then the philosophy is not serving its purpose. Vedaisya sarvai ahameva vedya. By all the scriptures and the philosophy that is contained in them, it is Krishna who is to be known, and not just known, but Krishna is to be loved.
As he tells in the next verse, this is 15.15, and a few verses later, 15.18, Krishna says that, sarvavid bhajati mam sarvabhavena bharata. Sarvavid, a person who is all-knowing, he, sarvabhavena bhajati, he loves me, worships me, offers all his emotions to me. So, that is our ultimate objective.
That’s why when we get an opportunity to serve cows, we should do that very eagerly and respectfully. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that we think that, let me adopt a cow’s body. No, we don’t have to do that.
So, the Jnana Chakshu should be utilized whenever we start becoming sentimental, and that sentimentality starts taking us away from the path of bhakti. But, if we start finding ourselves becoming hard-hearted, especially hard-hearted towards those aspects of life, of spiritual life, that can help us to advance in spiritual life, then we have to understand that the Jnana Chakshu has taken precedence in my consciousness over the Bhakti Chakshu, or the devotional vision. And then, at that time, we should use a devotional vision to see things properly.
So, in every situation, a devotee is concerned not just with is this material or is this spiritual. A devotee is more concerned with is this going to please Krishna or is it not going to please Krishna. Is there an opportunity to serve Krishna over here? And wherever there is, even if that seems material, a devotee will actually utilize that to make spiritual advancement.
So, from the Jnana Chakshu point of view, in the Hindu tradition, a sannyasi is considered to be forbidden to cross the ocean and go abroad, because the idea is the countries beyond the ocean are so degraded, they are filled with the kind of people whom the Vedic literature referred to as Mlecchas and Yavanas, who are having many unfortunate and undesirable habits. And a sannyasi who is supposed to be very pure will risk the chance of getting degraded by their association and will incur a stain on his purity and maybe even fall down. So, therefore, a sannyasi is normally told, don’t cross the ocean and go abroad.
So, this is the Jnani vision and it has its role. But we know Srila Prabhupada went abroad and what did he do? He was not enamored or thinking all these people are enjoying so much, nor was he disgusted, thinking all these people are so degraded. Srila Prabhupada went beyond both these perceptions and he saw that these are all souls.
They are all beloved children of Krishna and Krishna wants all of them to return back to him and let me do all that I can to inspire, guide and enlighten them and facilitate them so that they can return back to Krishna. So, Srila Prabhupada gave precedence to the devotional vision by which he could attract people to fulfill the purpose of the Vedic scriptures. So, the sannyasi is normally told so that he doesn’t get degraded.
But if somebody has made so much spiritual advancement that there is no chance for degradation, or there is very little chance for degradation, somebody has devotional compassionate vision, then the person is supposed to go beyond that and fulfill the ultimate mandate of the scriptures, that is to attract all souls towards Krishna. So, this dynamism between Jnana Chakshu and Bhakti Chakshu is something which a sadhaka has to be very aware of. So, excess of Jnana Chakshu will lead to hard-heartedness, absence of Jnana Chakshu will lead to mundane sentimentality.
But proper balance between Jnana Chakshu and Bhakti Chakshu will ensure that there is no mundane sentimentality. At the same time, there is no absence of divine devotional sentiments. Thank you.