Final answer:
Hindus have a prohibition from killing cows due to their economic value and religious importance. Marvin Harris highlights that cows provide various resources while alive and are linked with Hindu deities, making them sacred.
Step-by-step explanation:
The explanation from an anthropological point of view for why Hindus have a prohibition from killing cows can be traced to both religious beliefs and economic reasons. Cultural anthropologist Marvin Harris suggested that these religious ideas about the cattle being sacred were actually based on economic reality. In the Hindu context, cows are more valuable alive because they provide resources such as dung for fuel, traction for plowing fields, limited milk production, and reproductive capacity. These economic benefits reinforce the religious belief of cows' sacredness, legitimating the special treatment they receive within Indian society. Moreover, cows are linked to deities in Hindu sacred texts, making them spiritually significant to Hindu people.