Mahabharat Katha || Chat Club #1 - Page 22

Happy Shivaratri btw guys! ❤️

Originally posted by: metacrisis

^Hey sorry for disappearing...at the time when this was taken literally, did they like beef or disliked it (Bheeshma from the dialogue seems to not be in favour so much)?

I read in one article that at one point beef was reserved for esteemed guests?

Śāntiparvan 29.119 tells us that whenever Rantideva Sāṅkṛti spent the night at home, 120,000 cattle were slaughtered for his guests. That's a lot of esteemed guests!

Harivaṃśa chapter 10 tells the story of Satyavrata "Triśaṅku" being cursed for slaughtering his guru's milk-cow and for eating the beef without offering it to the Pitṛs. No condemnation just for eating beef here. Harivaṃśa chapter 16 tells the story of seven brāhmaṇas who killed a cow that they were supposed to be protecting, and lied about it, so they were reborn as hunters, but because they offered the beef to the Pitṛs before eating it, they had spiritual knowledge of their reincarnation. Again, no condemnation of beef-eating itself.

^Thanks!

How/When did the perception change? Was it the effect of Buddhism/Jainism on Hinduism that came up after them?

Originally posted by: metacrisis

^Thanks!

How/When did the perception change? Was it the effect of Buddhism/Jainism on Hinduism that came up after them?

I don't know, but since the customary recipients of cow-gifts were brāhmaṇas, the idea that cows are not to be eaten probably originated with them when agriculture in India had evolved the diversity that made a nutritious vegetarian diet possible.

Cows are not sacred in Buddhism/Jainism, nor in the story of Kṛṣṇa producing wolves from his body to prey on the cows of his community (Harivaṃśa chapters 52-53). Cows are sacred in the story of Kṛṣṇa worshipping and lifting Govardhana (Harivaṃśa chapters 59-62), in which buffaloes etc. are the edible animals slaughtered for the feast (viśasyantāṃ ca paśavo bhojyā ye mahiṣ'ādayaḥ; Harivaṃśa 60.13).

Interesting! I thought that the overall tenets of non-violence that formed the base of both Jainism and Buddhism had some effect on the eventual shift of Hindu preference of a vegetarian diet, which could have been a possible trigger for beef falling out of favour.

Although, Buddhism as far as I remember does not have a strict veg mandate, it only frowns upon needless slaughter of animals.

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Thank you.

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Originally posted by: metacrisis

Interesting! I thought that the overall tenets of non-violence that formed the base of both Jainism and Buddhism had some effect on the eventual shift of Hindu preference of a vegetarian diet, which could have been a possible trigger for beef falling out of favour.

Although, Buddhism as far as I remember does not have a strict veg mandate, it only frowns upon needless slaughter of animals.

Around Gupta times, when there is proliferation of agriculture and lot of land and cows given in grants, around that time, probably people stopped eating cows/beef and began using milk and other products more.

^Thanks Neha! I find it a very interesting topic...how Hinduism morphed, changed and evolved with each new philosophy that it came in contact with!

Thank you so much 😊