Hindus’ Strange Medicines! Cow’s Urine, Tiger Teeth, Elephant’s Hair, Deer Skin….

gomutra

Hindus’ Strange Medicines! Cow’s Urine, Tiger Teeth, Elephant’s Hair, Deer Skin, Tiger Skin, Dharba Grass, Fox Face, Water Pot, Elephant poo, Cows’ poo!

Research paper written by London Swaminathan
Research article No.1437; Dated 25th November 2014.

1.My father used to do meditation sitting on a deer skin. First he started with a tiger skin. Then he changed to deer skin. People told him that tiger skin is not fit for family men. It will make one angry. Why?

2. My mother used to wash our oven and kitchen area with cow’s poo (cow dung) every night. Why?

Cow-Urine

3. My sister used to sprinkle cow’s poo mixed with water on the ground in front of the floor every morning and then decorate the floor with some geometrical designs without any instrument. It is called Kolam in Tamil and Rangoli, Alpna in other languages. Why?

All this happened in Madurai,my home town in Tamil Nadu.

4.When I was asked to wear the sacred thread, for being born as a Brahmin, they tied a deer skin in my sacred thread. They tied some grass around my waist. Why?

5.When my friend was a little boy they hung a tooth of a tiger in his chain around his neck. Why?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Baboon eats elephant poo in Africa

6.When my wife was pregnant the priest brought the thorn of a porcupine and drew a line on her head. Why?

7.When I was a boy, the temple elephant used to come once a week through our streets and when it excreted on the road we children used to run to the road and stamp on the elephant poo. Even old ladies with chilblain used to join us. Why?

8.When I went to Guruvayur, the most famous shrine of Krishna in Kerala, the mahouts of the elephant sanctuary were selling secretly the hair from the tail of the elephants. People were exchanging money with them for the hair. Why?

selous-game-reservesmoking elphant poo
(In Tanzania (Africa) they smoke elephant dung

9.When I wore the sacred thread, the priest asked me to eat in very small quantity Panchagavya (five products from a cow including cow’s urine, cow’s poo, milk, curd/yogurt and butter). At that time I thought it was disgusting. Not anymore. Why?

10. I lived in the street of Yadava community in Madurai. People used to sprinkle cow’s urine on their heads and drink a small quantity whenever the cows urinated. Why?

11.We are asked to wear Dharba grass on our ring finger every time we do some ritual. Why?

12. In London, where I have been living for the past 28 years, a lot of foxes visit our garden. All Tamil Hindus are very happy to see it in the morning like we see Garuda (eagle with white neck) in the morning in India. Hindus think it is lucky to wake up in front of a fox. Why?
coffee elephant poo
Elephant poo coffee is very expensive

13. All the ancient sages and seers always carry a water pot in their hand. They believed in the magical qualities of water. They can give a boon or a curse with water.Why?

I can add hundred more customs like this. For all the ‘Why’s, I will give a one word answer: Hindus are children of nature. They knew the value of natural products. If someone says that something is a medicine they don’t bother until one falls sick. But if someone says it is mandatory in your religion, if you don’t do it you will incur sin, then you do it without questioning. Most of the products mentioned above have got some medicinal properties or may be placebo effect.

Nara_Narayana_Deogarh (1)
Deogarh Gupta staues of Nara Narayana with deer image on chest

Animal skins: deer skin will give one satva guna (good virtues without anger, Tiger skin will give you focus and concentration. Whatever you target you will ‘’kill’’, i.e. you achieve.

Poos of elephant and cow: They have medicinal properties. The greatest discovery of Hindus is cow. This is their gift to humanity. They use all their excretions: Urine, Poo, Milk and other dairy products. More than the protein and other essential nutrients in the milk, the urine and poo have got anti bacterial properties. Seers and sages simply survived with cow’s products. That is why Hindus worship cow as mother until today.

Dharba, grass, Tiger’s tooth or Tiger nail: No scientific study was done other that the effect of Dharba (kusa Grass) during eclipse. It is good some university does study it and reveal the secrets. I have read one or two things about theg ood qualities of the Dharba grass. But we need scientific proof with the date and the people who did the research and the name of the university. Whatever I have read so far was without proof.

cow urine cola

The poos of all animals are stinking and found with worms and germs. But the poo of an elephant or a cow never stink. Hindus have been using it for thousands of years without any bad side effect. African people use it. They smoke cigarettes and baboons eat them. Recently they have invented elephant poo coffee beans. Please read my earlier article on most expensive coffee.

Using porcupine thorn on the head of a pregnant lady will give her a healthy male child is the belief of Hindus. But we have to study it in the labs.

Village folk in Tamil Nadu strongly believe that the parts of tiger such as tooth, nail will instil courage, fearlessness, fortitude and steadiness. Tamil epic Silappadikaram and Tamil Saivite Purana Periapuranam describe the custom of wearing tiger tooth. But I don’t know any scientific proof for the medicinal qualities of elephant’s hair from the tail. Kerala people strongly believe that it wards off evil.

elephant-poo-11
For certain reason Hindu Law giver Manu also gave over importance for a certain type of deer. He says that where the black antelope ranges by nature, that should be known as the country fit for sacrifices ( Yagas and Yajnas); and beyond it is the country of Mlecchas (Manu 2-23).

Mlecha is used in Tamil literature for foreigners like Arabs, Romans and Yavanas. Brahmins wear the skin of that particular (Krishnasaram) deer in their sacred thread and it is called Krishnajinam.
These beliefs may look strange for westerners. But for people living in natural surroundings, many of these are not new. As long as you respect nature, nature cures your maladies! Give and take is Nature’s policy!
cow urinating
Cow’s urine is used by all Hindus.The most purifying thing like Ganges water.

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Elephant Coffee- a cup £30 (Rs2500)

London newspapers have published an interesting news story about coffee that comes out of an elephant’s bottom! It is called black ivory coffee. Because of its super taste, it is one of the most expensive coffees in the word at £30 a cup (Rs 2500). The reason for its good taste is every coffee bean is plucked out of elephant’s dung. They feed the coffee beans to elephants and the animal’s stomach acid improves it flavour.

 

This coffee is called crap-uccino. Canadian Blake Dinkin spent £300,000 developing this idea. He used a herd of twenty elephants for this. The first 70 kilo coffee he produced in Thailand has sold out. He expects a good demand for this black ivory coffee.

It raises a moral question. Can we use elephants to make them eat what they can’t digest? When it comes to money, morality disappears in western countries.

Hindus reverence to Elephants & cows

Hindus revered two animals the most –cow and elephant. They did two pujas everyday in all the temples and Mutts for cow and elephant. They are known as Go Puja (cow worship) and Gaja Puja (elephant worship). They not only respected these animals but used their parts as well. Even a primitive man would have done it. There is no wonder. But Hindus went one step further and found out the medical values of their urine and excretory materials.

Pancha gavyam (five products from Go=Gau=cow) is from the cow. Hindus must consume the urine, cow’s dung, milk, curd and butter at all ritual functions. The cow dung is anti bacterial and is used by the Hindus for thousands of years as cleaning materials in kitchen and front of the houses. Now cow’s urine is sold in bottles. People will slowly realise its medical value. I will consider these as Hindu discoveries.

The hair from elephant tails is used as a talisman against diseases in Kerala, India. The mahout used to give it when we give him money. Elephant’s urine was also used by orthodox Hindus. When I spent my boyhood days in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India I have done it along with other elders. When I went to Guruvayur elephant sanctuary, I bought the elephant’s hair. As soon as the elephants excrete the dung people used to run and stamp on it so that all the fissures and sores on the foot disappear. When I was a boy all these were fun rather than religious or scientific. Now after reading the elephant dung coffee news I realise its value.

People pay the mahout to get the water blown out from the trunk of an elephant. Whoever drenches in that water will get immunity from diseases. This is seen in 2200 year old (Bharhut sculptures) Gajalakshmi statues where Goddess Lakshmi is bathed by two elephants. I have already written about Gajalakshmi’s travel to Sri Lanka and Denmark. The figure is found in Denmark and Sri Lanka.

Elephant dung and cow’s dung are used as manure. Cow’s milk is also used all over the world. I have a feeling Hindus were the first one to introduce them to the human beings. There are some reasons to believe so. They worshipped these two animals above all other animals and started using them well before others. They found out their medicinal values. They banned beef eating. Beef spreads killer diseases such as Mad Cow Disease. Millions of cows were slaughtered after this disease spread to Europe in the past few years. Certain countries beef was banned by UK leading to economic wars. Beef sale dropped out heavily in the supermarkets after the scientists’ revelation that it can spread to human beings. Lot of people stopped eating red meat and switched over to chicken and fish. A lot more have become vegetarians.

 

Read also my previous posts:

1.யானை பற்றிய நூறு பழமொழிகள் 2.Gajalakshmi in Kalidasa and Sangam Literature 3.Gajendra Moksha in Africa

Contact: swami_48@yahoo.com or swaminathan.santanam@gmail.com