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Beef—it's the oldest shibboleth in the Indian mind. It is with textual evidence from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain canons that historian D.N. Jha takes on the sacred cow.


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Digression
1
Oct 01, 2001
A Whole Lot of Bull
Articles such as A Brahmin’s Cow Tales (September 17) prove nothing. What if D.N. Jha can demonstrate that all of human race was cannibalistic? Will it make cannibalism any more acceptable today? They eat dogs and cats in East Asia but does that mean they’re dinner in the West as well? While more and more Westerners are shunning the consumption of red meat, cerebrally-damaged Indian journos seem to be trying to make a virtue of it.
Murli Nagasundaram, on e-mail

It is sad that such an uproar has been created over D.N. Jha’s book. People in general seem to suffer from insecurity whenever their religion is examined by historians.
Vishwanath Rao, Bangalore

Whatever D.N. Jha has written doesn’t have to be swallowed as the whole truth, but at least in the interest of an open society, enough space should be allowed for debate and discourse.
Shujaat Mirza, on e-mail
2
Oct 08, 2001
Chew On This Cosmic Bone
D.N. Jha, it seems, belongs to that school of thought which thinks that the more outrageous a thesis one expounds, the more one will be in the limelight (A Brahmin’s Cow Tales, September 17). So it is with his book Holy Cow: Beef in Indian Dietary Conditions.

One’s entitled to one’s views as India is a secular country. But I seem to have read a different history than the one Jha propounds. Jha asserts that the cow became a sacred animal only in the 19th century. If I remember correctly, Surabhi, the mother of all cows, was one of the treasures churned up from the cosmic ocean. In history ‘proper’, in the 3rd century BC, Chanakya wrote in the Arthashastra that one who kills a cow should be put to death.

Do not forget also the legend of the Chola king who ordered the execution of his son for the accidental killing of a cow. Be it Alberuni’s India or Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, the common thread is that the cow is sacred for Hindus, it’s a sacrilege to kill one or eat beef.
Rajiv Chopra, Jammu
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1/D-107
Feb 16, 2010
03:36 PM
Manusmriti (Chapter 5 / Verse 30) says, “It is not sinful to eat meat of eatable animals, for Brahma has created both the eaters and the eatables.”

Manusmriti (5 / 35) states: When a man who is properly engaged in a ritual does not eat meat, after his death he will become a sacrificial animal during twenty-one rebirths.

Maharishi Yagyavalkya says in Shatpath Brahmin (3/1/2/21) that, “I eat beef because it is very soft and delicious.”
Apastamb Grihsutram (1/3/10) says, “The cow should be slaughtered on the arrival of a guest, on the occasion of ‘Shraddha’ of ancestors and on the occasion of a marriage.”
Rigveda (10/85/13) declares, “On the occasion of a girl’s marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered.”
Rigveda (6/17/1) states that “Indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo.”
Vashistha Dharmasutra (11/34) writes, “If a Brahmin refuses to eat the meat offered to him on the occasion of ‘Shraddha’ or worship, he goes to hell.”

Also, comments of some great scholars of Hinduism are also worth noting:
· Hinduism’s greatest propagator Swami Vivekanand said thus: “You will be surprised to know that according to ancient Hindu rites and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef”. (The Complete Works of Swami Vivekanand, vol.3, p. 536).
· Mukandilal writes in his book ‘Cow Slaughter – Horns of a Dilemma’, page 18: “In ancient India, cow-slaughter was considered auspicious on the occasions of some ceremonies. Bride and groom used to sit on the hide of a red ox in front of the ‘Vedi’ (alter).”
· A renowned scholar of scriptures Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane says, “Bajsancyi Samhita sanctifies beef-eating because of its purity”. (Dharmashastra Vichar Marathi, page 180)
· Adi Shankaracharya’ commentary on Brihdaranyakopanishad 6/4/18 says : ‘Odan’ (rice) mixed with meat is called ‘Mansodan’. On being asked whose meat it should be, he answers ‘Uksha’. ‘Uksha’ is used for an ox, which is capable to produce semen.
· The book ‘The History and Culture of the Indian People’, published by Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Bombay and edited by renowned historian R.C.Majumdar (Vol.2, page 578) says: “this is said in the Mahabharat that King Rantidev used to kill two thousand other animals in addition to two thousand cows daily in order to give their meat in charity”.
sherule
calicut, India
2/D-51
May 13, 2013
12:14 PM

 SATYAMEV JAYATE.
First of all I want to ask every indian that are we really an independent country? Are we really civilised? Is "satyamev jayate" indeed our national motto? Then why this man who is a historian and doing nothing but his job honestly receives threates to his life by the fanatics. He has announced anybody can come with proper evidence and can prove him wrong..Don't you people think that we are treating D.N.Jha the author of this book like christians treated Copernicus! Even Swami Vivekanand has said "According to ancient Hindu rites and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef”.

siddharth
aurangabad, India
3/D-52
May 13, 2013
12:17 PM

 SATYAMEV JAYATE.
First of all I want to ask every indian that are we really an independent country? Are we really civilised? Is "satyamev jayate" indeed our national motto? Then why this man who is a historian and doing nothing but his job honestly receives threates to his life by the fanatics. He has announced anybody can come with proper evidence and can prove him wrong..Don't you people think that we are treating D.N.Jha the author of this book like christians treated Copernicus! Even Swami Vivekanand has said "According to ancient Hindu rites and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef”.

siddharth
aurangabad, India
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