摘要
印度的經濟是以農耕為主要生產來源，所以牛與印度當時社會生活息息相關。佛教教化內容以牛隻做為譬喻，除了容易取材，也貼近當時人們的生活經驗，則易於瞭解吸收。《阿含經》係原始佛教的重要經典，自然會有許多與牛隻相關的描述的教化。例如，以牧牛方法，譬喻修行門徑。在《妙法蓮華經．譬喻品》中，以羊車、鹿車、牛車的譬喻為聲聞、緣覺、菩薩，甚至以大白牛車譬喻為一佛乘。在《大智度論》裏也舉出十一種牧牛的方法，以借喻的方式，讓修行人領會調心、降伏其心之道。禪宗以牛喻眾生之心，《十牛圖》與《十牛圖頌》，以牧牛來代表修行的十個境界。佛教與牛的關係，是非常密切。在《妙法蓮華經》中記載，佛陀說法，為使眾生證得常以「譬喻」的方式說法，並指出，「諸有智者，以譬喻得解」。佛陀宣說八萬四千法門，善用各種「譬喻」，其實主要導入「一佛乘」。因此佛教的十二分教中，譬喻的教法，實影響深遠。
並列摘要
India's economy is based on farming as the main source of production, so cow is closely related to social life in India at that time. The content of Buddhist teachings uses cow as an example. In addition to being easy to obtain materials, it is also close to people's life experience at that time, so it is easy to understand and learning. Agama Sutra is an important classic of primitive Buddhism, and naturally there are many descriptions related to cow. For example, the method of herding cow is used as a metaphor for the way of practice. In Lotus Sutra, the metaphors of sheep carts, deer carts, and cow carts are used as shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva, and even the big white cow cart is compared as a Buddha vehicle. In Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā (Da Zhidu Lun), eleven methods of herding cow are also cited, and by way of metaphor, practitioners can understand the way of regulating and subduing their minds. Zen uses cow as a metaphor for the hearts of all living beings. Ten Cows and Ode to Ten Cows use cattle herding to represent the ten realms of practice. The relationship between Buddhism and cow is very close. It is recorded in Lotus Sutra that the Buddha preached, in order to enable all living beings to realize it, often spoke in the form of parables, and pointed out that all wise people can understand with metaphors. The Buddha preached 84,000 Dharma-methods and made good use of various parables, but in fact he mainly introduced Ekayana. Therefore, among the twelve branches of Buddhism, the teaching method of metaphor has far-reaching influence.