What Does 'Sutras to a Cow' Mean?
No matter how well you try to explain, it's futile and meaningless if the listener either cannot understand or refuses to listen.
How Did This Proverb Originate?
Sutras refer to the texts of sutras, and since cows are incapable of understanding sutras, presenting them with such sacred texts is pointless. This proverb was born from this rationale.
In reality, sutras were not recited to cows, but cows symbolize humans who do not listen, making the proverb's emergence and reasons for featuring cows unclear even today.
Cows were likely chosen for the metaphor because, having lived closely with humans since ancient times, they were seen as familiar and thus easy to use in a proverb.
※A metaphor is the expression of an idea by referring to something else for illustrative purposes.
