What do elephants mean to hindus?
106319
elephant are a incarnation of their god ganesh and it is the  most important god http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/elephantmen/gods.html
247948
Read this. \n\nhttp://www.hindu.com/2004/12/16/stories/2004121607140500.htm
461680
a real life size elephant\n\nI love them\nthey NEVER FORGET THEIR FRIENDS EVER...\nand they love family and take care of others babies too..
1046684
caste is just another word for the different levels in a community.. it either means that or just the different types of communities that exist.. No caste system does not apply only to east Indians... most Hindus have it... i wouldn't say Indians cause there are other religions here like Islam and Christianity who dont have castes though they may have several segregation's.
798145
The Indian elephant, also called Asian elephant, is the highest off the ground at its head. The African Bush elephant is tallest at its shoulder. Also like was said the ears are a major difference and its size. Also male Indian elephants have tusks, female Indian elephants do not whereas African elephants both sexes have tusks. The Indian elephant is more easily trained as a mount and is easier to domesticate as a draft animal that will carry heavy logs and so forth. They can follow some 26 different commands. African elephants are too wild, chaotic, unpredictable and dangerous to have regular contact with humans or to be used as mounts, like horses.\n\nTo make things even worse there is the African Bush elephant AND the African Forest elephant on top of all that. A third species right there, if not even more. Why do they have to call it all separate species instead of just three races of a single animal is hard to tell. Maybe it has to do with elephant conservation and making the elephant population look lower than it actually is to give the animal more rights by only counting a smaller number of a particular species.
187487
Hindu god.  Krishna (कृष्ण in Devanagari, IAST kṛṣṇa) is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, he is seen as the Supreme Person (God) and thus the origin of all other incarnations.\nKrishna and the stories associated with him appear across the spectrum of Hindu philosophical and theological traditions. Though they sometimes differ in details or even contradict each other reflecting the concerns of a particular tradition, some core features are shared by all. These include a divine incarnation, a pastoral childhood and youth and life as a heroic warrior and teacher. The immense popularity of Krishna in India also meant that various non-Hindu religions that originated in India had their own versions of him.\n\nHe is not the elephant god.  That's Ganesh!!!
134187
Large elephants will surprisingly eat eggs sometimes.\n\nSometimes, elephants will eat surprisingly large eggs.
106058
Elephants are vegitarians. (aka herbivores)
349116
The sanctity of the cow is perhaps the foremost sentiment of Hindus for whom this sacred animal has far deeper nuances in Indian culture and ethos than is generally understood. For instance, in Sanskrit, the vocabulary used to mention the cow is indeed staggering, revealing the extraordinary importance that was once attached to it.\n\nIndian scriptures tell us that the cow is a gift of the gods to the human race. It is a celestial being born of the churning of the cosmic ocean. \n \n \n  Guias the cow is called in Hindi, is symbolic of Earth itself (similar to Gaia,the Greek goddess of earth). It follows that the cow represents the Divine Mother that sustains all human beings and brings them up as her very own offspring. Much as a mother shows the highest mark of affection for her young, the passion of the cow for her calf is just as legendary and often referred to in Indian literature. The ancient texts describe how the gods run to the succour of a devotee like a cow hastening to feed her calf. In fact, the cow is even more than a mother in the sense that it fulfills all the needs of her children as well. It is in this conception that the cow is understood as Kakadhenu, the wish filling mythical cow, abode of the 330 million Indian gods and goddesses.\n\nBut in Indian mythology and legend, it is with the cult of Krishna that the cow is closely connected. Among other deeds, Krishna is said to have lifted mount Govardhan to protect his group of cows, cowboys and milkmaids. In popular imagination it is Lord Krishna who symbolized the relationship man should have for the cow. Hence to take care of this innocent and self-sacrificing animal is a matter of virtue for Hindus who identify the act ad dharma or moral duty.\n\nConsiderations of conscience aside, it was natural that in a predominantly agricultural and pastoral country like India, cows were and to some extent still are, considered to be the real wealth of the people. After all it is the cow that gives birth to the bulls, bulls that are harnessed to plough the fields and to provide transportation. And then of course, there is the mild--milk that is cultured to become yoghurt--yoghurt which is churned to produce butter--butter which is converted into ghee or clarified butter that in India is used as cooking medium. In addition to this, there is paneer or cottage cheese and buttermilk. Indians cannot forget khoyaand mana--the other milk derivatives used in preparation of sweets. No wonder the cow is considered the backbone of rural society. \n\nPaeans of praise is reserved for cow's milk and ghee which is considered to be an elixir. Dr. D. Bhandari, the former Director of Animal Husbandry in Rajasthan said, "You see it is the wonderful bacterial flora of the cow's stomach that imparts this matchless quality to its milk ideally balanced for humans. Buffalo milk may be richer but it is the cow's milk that sharpens intellect, gives swiftness of body, stability of emotions and a serene nature to the one who drinks it." \n\nAlso taken, but in measured quantities, is cow urine or gau mutra which has a unique place in Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine. Commenting on the chemistry of gau mutra,Dr. C.H.S. Sastry, Director of the National Institute of Ayurveda said, "Cow urine is used to produce a whole range of ayurvedic drugs, especially to treat skin diseases like eczema." Besides, gau mutra is a well known disinfectant. Anti-septic property is also the attribute of cow dung or gobar which is mixed with clay to form a plastering medium for mud huts. It is a proven fact that mud huts plastered with gobar keeps insects and reptiles away. This is the reason why people in the countryside still store grain in huge earthen pots plastered with gobar and gau mutra to keep it free from insect manifestations. \n\nGobarand gau mutrais also mixed with mud and straw to make dried cakes that fuel kitchen fires. Traditional wisdom says that in burning
348719
I'm a Hindu.  To me, all life is sacred.  All sentient beings deserve our respect.  But the cow in particular is of special importance in Indian culture for various historical and cultural reasons.  \n\nThe cow is seen as a symbol of the Mother.  The cow gives, and asks for nothing in return.  It is gentle and itself a vegetarian.\nIndians have used the products of the cow for their livelihood.  They drink its milk, and they use ghee (clarified butter) in much cooking, and paneer (cheese) is an important nutritional element in a predominantly vegetarian diet that most Indians keep.\nBesides these foods, the dung is a traditional source for fuel.  The cow's urine is an antiseptic.\n\nThe cow was an ancient measure of wealth.  When there were no coins, people traded in cows and such.\n\nThe cow is a national emblem for India, and there is much pride associated with it.\n\nThe cow is not really worshipped, in the same sense that one worships God.  But it is definitely respected and appreciated, and protected.
681743
The elephants’ ancestors looked more like pigs than elephants, and were about that size.  As elephants’ ancestors evolved they gradually be came larger, with larger heads of course.  The neck of an elephant is very short.  A long neck would not be able hold such a heavy head.  With a short neck an elephant cannot graze like a horse.  As the elephant evolved the upper lip of the elephant became the trunk we see today.
777008
They still have anti-sodomy laws in India. Hindus think homosexuality is immoral and one of the Indian princes just got  disowned for being openly gay.
1104227
The beliefs of others are always viewed critically and found to be mythology, while one's own mythology is viewed as fact.\n\nWhat I like about the Hindu god is that you can't corner it, you can't trap it, you can't blaspheme against it because, well, because it's god. The Hindus have one of the highest concepts of god on the planet, and if people think it's stupid because there are cows involved then they simply lack the ability to understand what "infinite" means. That's why such people are limited to worshiping a finite anthropomorphic god made in their own image.
869576
In India, mithun means deer.\nIn Nagaland, a north eastern state in India, it is an indigenous buffalo
1161188
Cow was very important in ancient hindu civilisation. As per true Hindu spirit, hindus gave special respect to cow as it gave them milk, her offsprings used in farming.  So besides respecting rivers to give them water, and trees to give them fruits, hindus gave a special status to cow and forbade its killing for eating purpose.\n\nMany westerners spread the rumour that hindus worship cow as God, is not correct.  Hindus respect cows as angles...for obvious reasons and protected her to protect the old hindu civilisation
943947
The Shiva Lingam is a symbol used to represent Shiva...mostly by the Lingayat sect of Saivism. It represents God (Shiva) in an unmanifested state....to remind the observer that while the entire universe is a manifestation of God, God also remains unmanifested, too. In some traditions the Lingam is placed in a base that is often called a Yoni. Here the symbolism is then merged as the unity of male and female (Shiva and Shakti). In Saivism and Shakta denominations God is both male and female and yet neither and this is strong emphasized (while other traditions in Hinduism acknowledge this there is less emphasis usually). Shiva is the unmanifest God and Shakti is God manifested. The unmanifest is masculine in nature and the manifested (the active component) is feminine in nature.\n\nI'll admit that when I first learned about Hinduism that I was often confused about the Lingam, too. This is a great question and I hope I answered it well for you.\n\nPeace be with you.
259715
You can find Indian elephant (E. m. indicus) which is one four subspecies of Asian elephant. The Asian Elephant, that is. It is also known as the Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus).