Hindu scriptural text (Vedas) endorse cow eating

by Guest Tue Mar 07, 2017 12:11 pm

At the close of the Vedic period the cow was still an article of food and was appreciated for that reason, as well as for its other economic values. The doctrine of the cow's sanctity does not appear at all in Vedic literature.

The general Buddhist and Jain, and later Hindu, doctrine of Ahimsa appears at the end of the Vedic period and at that time enters the stream of Brahmanical religious teaching, but the doctrine of the special sanctity of the cow is not at first associated with it.

The sanctity of the cow is first recorded in the works composed close to the beginning of the Christian era, though the texts of that time treat it equivocally. The doctrine gets a strong position by the time of the completion of the Mahabharata, say at the beginning of the Gupta dynasty, about the 4th Century A D. Its position was made firm doctrinally in Brahmanical circles in the period of composition of the Puranas, and it becomes widely diffused among the Hindu community, gaining ever increasing prestige from then on.

http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1964_16/5-6-7/the_sanctity_of_the_cow_in_hinduism.pdf

by Guest Tue Mar 07, 2017 1:39 pm

"scriptural texts", not "scriptural text".

by Guest Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:19 am

A survey of ancient Indian scriptures, especially the Vedas, shows that amongst the nomadic, pastoral Aryans who settled here, animal sacrifice was a dominant feature till the emergence of settled agriculture. Cattle were the major property during this phase and they offered the same to propitiate the gods. Wealth was equated with the ownership of the cattle.

Many gods such as Indra and Agni are described as having special preferences for different types of flesh - Indra had weakness for bull's meat and Agni for bull's and cow's. It is recorded that the Maruts and the Asvins were also offered cows. In the Vedas there is a mention of around 250 animals out of which at least 50 were supposed to be fit for sacrifice and consumption. In the Mahabharata there is a mention of a king named Rantideva who achieved great fame by distributing foodgrains and beef to Brahmins. Taittiriya Brahman categorically tells us: `Verily the cow is food' (atho annam via gauh) and Yajnavalkya's insistence on eating the tender (amsala) flesh of the cow is well known. Even later Brahminical texts provide the evidence for eating beef. Even Manusmriti did not prohibit the consumption of beef.

In therapeutic section of Charak Samhita (pages 86-87) the flesh of cow is prescribed as a medicine for various diseases. It is also prescribed for making soup. It is emphatically advised as a cure for irregular fever, consumption, and emaciation. The fat of the cow is recommended for debility and rheumatism.

http://www.thehindu.com/2001/08/14/stories/13140833.htm

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Hindu scriptural text (Vedas) endorse cow eating

Hindu scriptural text (Vedas) endorse cow eating

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Re: Hindu scriptural text (Vedas) endorse cow eating