Topic started by vohsendhan (@ 202.88.137.61) on Tue Jan 8 11:08:35 .
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The attack on the President of India by the BJP for his honest and forthright observations makes me wonder. A senior BJP leader is reported to have told The Asian Age that the mention of Hindus eating beef in the textbooks was “hurting the sentiments of the majority community in India” (The Asian Age 6.1.2002). I am also happen to have been born in “the Hindu religious fold”. If milk is considered to be vegetarian, I am hereditarily a pure vegetarian and I am really happy to remain so. Consequently, I am for the protection of all animals and would also be happy to lend a helping hand in spreading vegetarianism, even as a cult. But I do not think that I should hang my head in shame if my forefathers had swallowed animals. My sentiments are not hurt just because the history books carry the facts pertaining to the beef eating behaviour of my ancestors, in the days of yore. Because, they are facts. I simply do not want to follow the habits of those ancestors. That is my right. Everybody knows even without the help of the text books that my ancestors had once wandered around without any clothes. I do not want to emulate them now. But I seriously want the history books carry this fact also about my ancestors. I am therefore annoyed at the way the M.M. Joshi’s crowd works over time in the ICHR and other places to bury the facts.
If, as reported, the abovementioned senior BJP leader who happens to be my ‘Hindu compatriot’ feels offended on this score, I would like to know from him the date on which he, or his horde, discovered that cow – and cow alone - was holy. There is clear evidence that the Hindus, especially, the Hindu clergy, the only beneficiaries of the Hindu religious set up, had taken to cow-eating very fondly.
Mahabharatha, which is a post-Buddhist(c.500 B.C) and post-Ramayana(c. 400 B.C) story, but not history, contains references to the eating of cow’s flesh and drinking of cow’s soup by the Brahmins. Megadooth, a literary work of the poet Kaalidasa contains references to it too. Are they BJP-wallahs going to burn or ban these books?
Mahabharatha describes how 2000 cows were killed every day in the palace of the king Randhidevaa. The skins would be kept heaped near the kitchen. The liquid which oozed out of those skins had been flowing like river. It was named as a river originating from the skin. Because, the river was emanating from the skin of the cows kept in heaps near the kitchen. The ‘river’ was christened as Sarma nvadhi , meaning ‘emanating from skin’. That was how Vyas has described it.
Moreover, there had been 2000 cooks in the palace of the king Randhidevaa for cooking food from out of the cows flesh. But, there had been more no. of Brahmin guests than anticipated. So, announcements were made politely in the dinner hall requesting the guests to eat less flesh and drink more soup. These facts are found recorded in the chapter ‘Vanaparva’ 208: 8-10 of Mahabharatha. Besides references to the eating of cows flesh are available in Shantiparva-23-29, Dronaparva 67, 1-2, Dronaparva 67, 17-18. and the works of Kaalidasa.
Kaalidaasa has eulogized the king Randhideva in his work ‘Meghdoot’ for having created the Sarmanvathi by killing cows. [Meghdoot 1.45]. The famous writer Rahul Sankritiyayan has extensively quoted these passages in his work “From the Volga to the Ganges”.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution has in his book, The history of untouchables, recorded extensively how the Brahmins, had been eating cows during the Vedic and post –Vedic eras. It is not that the cow was not sacred during the Vedic era. It was held sacred and that was why it was killed and eaten. It has been recorded thus in Vajsanei Samhita – cited by Dr. Ambedkar in the said book in Chapter11.
There are many evidences in the Rig Veda that the Vedic Aryans killed cows for food. (X. 91.14). Cows were killed with swords and axes (X. 72.6)
Thaithreeya Braahmana prescribes what sort of cows must be sacrificed at the altar of which god. A black cow must be offered to Purush and a red cow to Rudra.
Abasthamba , Veri suthra –says, “Cow and Ox are sacred. So they must be eaten” (Lines 14,15,29)
These being facts, I do not know why the BJP wants to suppress and subvert the history. Maybe, these fundamentalists feel that the history books are irksome when they set the less-privileged ‘Hindus’ against the Muslims in the name of protection of cows, to make India a land of constant unrest. The nation stands warned. Only those who want to repeat the history deny the history.
Thank you!
Sendhan Amudhan
Vohsendhanamudhan@yahoo.com
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