Niti Shastra:

One's own mother, the wife of the guru, the wife of a brähmaëa, the wife of a king, the cow, the nurse, and the earth are known as the seven mothers of a man.

Srimad Bhagavatam 3:2:29

”Since the bull and cow are your father and mother, how can you kill and eat them? What kind of religious principle is this? On what strength are you so daring that you commit such sinful activities?“

Krishna and Balarama the cowheards

(Srimad bhagavatam 10.15):

Shukadeva Gosvämi said: When Lord Räma and Lord Krishna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrindävana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the task of tending the cows.

Engaging thus in the company of Their friends, the two boys rendered the land of Vrindävana most auspicious by imprinting upon it the marks of Their lotus feet.

Thus desiring to enjoy pastimes, Lord Mädhava, sounding His flute, surrounded by cowherd boys who were chanting His glories, and accompanied by Lord Baladeva, kept the cows before Him and entered the Vrindävana forest, which was full of flowers and rich with nourishment for the animals.

Lord Krishna looked over that forest, which resounded with the charming sounds of bees, animals and birds, and which was enhanced by a lake whose clear water resembled the minds of great souls and by a breeze carrying the fragrance of hundred-petaled lotuses. Seeing all this, Lord Krishna decided to enjoy the auspicious atmosphere.

The primeval Lord saw that the stately trees, with their beautiful reddish buds and their heavy burden of fruits and flowers, were bending down to touch His feet with the tips of their branches. Thus He smiled gently and addressed His elder brother.

Lord Krishna said: O greatest of Lords, just see how these trees are bowing their heads at Your lotus feet, which are worshipable by the immortal demigods. The trees are offering You their fruits and flowers to eradicate the dark ignorance that has caused their birth as trees.

O original personality, these bees must all be great sages and most elevated devotees of Yours, for they are worshiping You by following You along the path and chanting Your glories, which are themselves a holy place for the entire world. Though You have disguised Yourself within this forest, O sinless one, they refuse to abandon You, their worshipable Lord.

O worshipable one, these peacocks are dancing before You out of joy, these doe are pleasing You with affectionate glances, just as the gopés do, and these cuckoos are honoring You with Vedic prayers. All these residents of the forest are most fortunate, and their behavior toward You certainly befits great souls receiving another great soul at home.

This earth has now become most fortunate, because You have touched her grass and bushes with Your feet and her trees and creepers with Your fingernails, and because You have graced her rivers, mountains, birds and animals with Your merciful glances. But above all, You have embraced the young cowherd women between Your two arms-a favor hankered after by the goddess of fortune herself.

Shukadeva Gosvämi said: Thus expressing His satisfaction with the beautiful forest of Vrindävana and its inhabitants, Lord Kåñëa enjoyed tending the cows and other animals with His friends on the banks of the river Yamunä below Govardhana Hill.

Sometimes the honeybees in Vrindaavana became so mad with ecstasy that they closed their eyes and began to sing. Lord Krishna, moving along the forest path with His cowherd boyfriends and Baladeva, would then respond to the bees by imitating their singing while His friends sang about His pastimes. Sometimes Lord Krishna would imitate the chattering of a parrot, sometimes, with a sweet voice, the call of a cuckoo, and sometimes the cooing of swans. Sometimes He vigorously imitated the dancing of a peacock, making His cowherd boyfriends laugh. Sometimes, with a voice as deep as the rumbling of clouds, He would call out with great affection the names of the animals who had wandered far from the herd, thus enchanting the cows and the cowherd boys.