Like a Mother
Within the Vedic tradition from which the Hare Krishna movement derives its belief system and structure, the cow is considered to be like a mother for all humanity. Because cows supply so many of the vital necessities of human civilization in the form of products for sustenance, cow dung which is often used as fuel, and manual labor used by farmers to help plow fields and transport crops, cows and bulls are regarded within vedic society with the same respect and care that parents are afforded. Just as one wouldn’t harm or kill their parents, those who consider themselves to be godly people following the vedic paradigm seek not only to do no harm to these innocent animals, but to give them as much protection as possible.