Should we drink cow’s milk nowadays when it is got by causing violence to cows?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, cow’s milk now is often causing a lot of violence to the cows. So, should we drink that milk? Is it virtuous or is it sinful to drink that kind of milk? See, as I said, morality is not always categorical.
It is contextual. So, I’ll explain. There are two different takes on this.
One is that, yes, as you rightly said, the cow is subjected to a lot of torture in today’s world. And milk is extracted by very harsh means, causing pain to her. So, therefore, when we drink that milk, we are a part of this whole process of cruelty to the cows.
And therefore, we should not be a part of it. That is one line of thought. So, therefore, the authorities don’t take the milk.
They become vegans. The other line of thought is that, actually, cow milk is pure. And it has been glorified so much in traditional culture.
It is nutritious. Actually, Prabhupada recommended it quite strongly. And therefore, we should drink it.
Now, whatever it is, we should take cow’s milk and we should benefit from it. You see, there is, in the Mahabharata, there is an analysis of how do you know what is right or what is wrong. See, there are three ways of analysing.
There is intent, there is content, and there is consequence. Intent means what was my intention in doing it. Now, doctor did a surgery with the right intention.
But then, something happened, some other complication happened because of which the patient suffered. The intent was right, but some complication. So, do we decide something is right or wrong based on intent? Or do we decide based on content? This is known to be right, this is known to be wrong.
Or do we decide based on consequence? Actually, the result was bad. Therefore, what you did was wrong. Now, again, there is no, there is no, there is no, the Mahabharata does not, the whole Mahabharata is animated by one question.
What is dharma? And the Mahabharata’s answer is essentially dharmasya tattvam nitham govayan. It’s complex. It is confidential.
It is not easy to understand what is dharma. So, basically, in this particular, in this particular discussion, some devotees are focusing on content and some are focusing on consequence. Some focus on content.
Actually, milk is good. That’s what scripture has told. Therefore, we should take milk.
But some are focusing on consequence. What is happening when we are taking milk? When we are taking the milk, we are part of this particular whole business which is hurting cows. So, now, it’s not a matter of what is right or what is wrong.
It is a matter of what is taken as a priority. So, the best solution would be that devotees have farm communities or devotees themselves support communities where cows are taken care of. And then we get ahimsa milk.
And as the culture is becoming more and more receptive towards vegetarianism, vegan has become big, vegetarianism is also not that small. As that becomes big, I think many places, that option may also open up. If we can get milk which is got from cows who are treated very well, that is the best option.
If that option is, and to the extent we can work out that option, that is good. But if we can’t work that option out, then we don’t have to make this an issue of campaign. Some devotees may feel inspired by the content.
This is what our tradition tells. We must take milk. If they feel inspired, then that’s fine.
Some devotees feel inspired, feel inspired to focus on the consequences. No, no, no. How can you be a part of this? That’s fine.
No, it’s not wrong to have in the devotee community diversity of opinion on non-centric issues. Nobody is going to say, tomorrow somebody is asking, you know, we should eat milk. No, no, not at all.
Can’t do that. That’s breaking the regulations. But with respect to these things, there can be diversity of opinion.
And then we can use our intelligence, we can hear our conscience, consult with our devotee guides and decide what we want to do. It’s not one is right and the other is wrong. It’s a broad, sometimes we think of morality as just one straight line.
Sometimes it might just be a circle, you know, where different people position themselves at different points within that circle. So, whatever we feel inspired by, we can do that. Let’s answer