Reading Notes: Epified 7 Secrets from the Hindu Calendar, Part E

Hello World!!

In today's reading we learned about Vishnu and Go-Daan, or Cow Charity. This helped us better understand why cows are of such importance to most Indian cultures. They are given importance through the culture's deities, and in this case Vishnu is the one that is discussed.

One of the most interesting things I found was about Kamadhenu, the magical cow who can fulfill any wish. It was a little reminiscent of Genie from Aladdin. I'm not attempting to make fun of the culture that is simply what came to my mind. I find that it allows me to better understand what I am learning about if I can relate it back to something I know very well. I think it would be a really good story to have the two of them come together and meet or to have a contest to see who is the better of the two. It could be a wonderfully comical story.

I also found it incredibly interesting how each of the Vishnu's avatars were that of animals. Almost every single avatar gave a certain animal importance whether that be the fish, the cow, the lion, or even the turtle. Loving and caring for animals is an important part of this culture from what I can see, and it should be an important part of every culture.

Moving along, I also enjoyed the comparison found between Krishna and Rama. I adore the two characters but never realized that they were shown in a certain manner to provide knowledge about various human traits. This is explained better in this quote.

"If Ram is about laws and appropriate conduct, Krishna is about love and affection. While Ram focuses on discipline and the head, Krishna focuses more on affection and the heart."

I enjoyed today's viewing very much and look forward to tomorrow's reading as well!

Kamadhenu sculpture, Source: IndiaMART

All the above information can be found at this link:Epified 7 Secrets from the Hindu Calendar Reading Guide.