We all know that cows are sacred in Hinduism and for years, Ayurveda - the ancient Indian science of life - has endorsed the healing properties of cow products like dung, milk and urine.?
The cow, they say, produces five things ¡ª milk, cheese, butter (or ghee), urine and dung. While the first three are consumed, while the last two can be used in religious rituals and for burning fuel.
This use of cow products are common knowledge, but religious fanatics have a way when it comes to blowing things out of? proportion.?
More recently, a redditor shared a picture of hoarding outside a Hindu Temple. The advertisement detailed 'Cow Dung Ingredients' and specified its benefits, which included the claim that cow dung produces oxygen.?
The redditor wrote, 'What exactly do you want as a source for this? I went to a temple nearby my house. It's been years since I went, and seeing this kind of thing reminded me why I don't go to temples'.
Wikipedia
From purifying someone's 'aura' to producing copious amounts of 'Pranvayu' or oxygen to purify the environment, cow dung seems to have superpowers, some of which are literally inexplicable. Of course, such claims have no scientific basis, but that does not stop?people from coming up with one ridiculous theory after the other.
The picture soon sparked a debate online, with many slamming the level of fanaticism. One user wrote, 'The level of arrogant ignorance in these mindless so called Gau-Rakshaks is amazing. The star of this banner is: "It produces large quantity of Pranvayu (Oxygen)"!!!!!'
Another wrote, 'So burning cow dung purifies air. The person who wrote this is delusional'.
In the past too, there have been some befuddling claims about the 'Gau Mata', the leading example being?BJP politician and Rajasthan Education Minister Vasudev Devnani, who said?cow is the only animal that inhales as well as exhales oxygen.
While speaking at the Hingonia Goshala, during an event organised by the Akshay Patra foundation in January 2017, he said "Gai ekmatra prani hai jo oxygen grahan karta hai, aur oxygen hi chodta hai (the cow is the only animal that takes in oxygen and also releases oxygen)."
There's another politician who gave serious competition to the above claim, just a few days ago, West Bengal BJP chief, Dilip Ghosh, said that?Indian cows' milk contains gold.?At a programme in Burdwan district, Ghosh said, "A feature of the Indian cow is that its milk contains gold. That's the reason the colour of the milk is yellowish."
"So the texture turns yellow or golden. This milk has preventive properties. A person can live on this kind of milk only. You don't have to eat anything else. It is a complete food," he said.
Well, looks like even a facepalm won't suffice for some people.