Editing Cow dung (section)

=== Religious uses ===

In Hinduism, cow dung is believed to have [[wiktionary:antiseptic|antiseptic]] properties and is used to clean homes as well as being used in rituals.<ref> https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8239506/#:~:text=The%20Hindu%20religious%20system%20places,and%20urine%20are%20purifying%20agents.&text=In%20Hinduism%2C%20the%20cow%20dung,homes%20and%20for%20prayer%20rituals.&text=They%20believe%20that%20it%20has%20therapeutic%20and%20antiseptic%20properties.</ref> Cow dung is used in Hindu [[yajna]] ritual as an important ingredient.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ayurveda-sedona.com/knowledge-center/spirituality/holy-cow/|title=Holy Cow – Importance of Cow in Hinduism and Sacred Ayurvedic Texts – Sattvic Milk and Dairy Products}}</ref>{{unreliable source|date=February 2023}} Cow dung is also used in the making of [[panchagavya|pancha-gavya]], for use in Hindu rituals.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jain |first=Rupam |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7398029/Cow-dung-and-urine-healthy.html |title=Cow dung and urine 'healthy' |publisher=Telegraph |date=2010-03-08 |access-date=2019-11-13}}</ref> Several Hindu texts - including ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'' and ''[[Manusmṛti]]'' -  state that the pancha-gavya purifies many sins.<ref name="JL_1989">{{cite book |author=Isobel Julia Leslie |title=The Perfect Wife: The Orthodox Hindu Woman according to the Strīdharmapaddhati of Tryambakayajvan |series=Oxford University South Asian Studies Series |year=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDkEAQAAIAAJ |pages=60–62 |isbn=978-0-19-562107-5 }}</ref> The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' narrates a story about how [[Lakshmi]], the goddess of prosperity, came to reside in cow dung. In the legend, Lakshmi asks cows to let her live in their bodies because they are pure and sinless. The cows refuse, describing her as unstable and fickle. Lakshmi begs them to accept her request, saying that others would ridicule her for being rejected by the cows, and agreeing to live in the most despised part of their body. The cows then allow her to live in their dung and urine.<ref name="JL_1989"/>

The Tantric Buddhist ritual manuals ''Jayavatī-nāma-mahāvidyārāja-dhāraṇī'' and ''Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi '' recommend use of cow dung to purify ''mandala'' altars.<ref name="JPD_2023">{{cite book |author=Jacob P. Dalton |chapter=Ritual Manuals and the Spread of the Local |title=Conjuring the Buddha: Ritual Manuals in Early Tantric Buddhism |year=2023 |pages=27–49 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231556187 |doi=10.7312/dalt20582-003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GBpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |location=Dhāraṇī-Based Ritual Methods }}</ref>