Sage-Tips

Did Vedic Aryans eat beef?

There is copious evidence that the Vedic Aryans sacrificed cows and ate beef. Cow killing was given up and beef gradually disappeared from the Brahminical food menu; it now became part of the food culture of the untouchable castes whose number increased over time.

Did Vedic Brahmins eat beef?

Historically, all Indian masses, including the Brahmins, used to eat beef, both in what is called the Vedic and the post-Vedic period. They would eat even dead or diseased cattle. In my own village, when I was a child, there were about 70 to 80 Dalit families.

Does the Indian culture eat beef?

The Hindu reverence of cattle—particularly the cow—is well-known. Census data shows that nearly 80 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population are Hindu. Most Hindus worship the cow and abstain from eating beef, so it might come as a surprise that India has become the world’s second-largest beef exporter.

Is beef eating mentioned in Vedas?

Cows in ancient Indian history In the time of the oldest Hindu sacred text, the Rig Veda (c. 2.21) forbids the eating of either cow or bull, a revered ancient Hindu sage named Yajnavalkya immediately contradicts it, saying that, nevertheless, he eats the meat of both cow and bull, “as long as it’s tender.”

Did Hindus eat beef in Vedic times?

Historically, all Indian communities, including the Brahmins, used to eat beef both in what is called the Vedic and the post-Vedic periods. Gautama Buddha rebelled against this tradition because during his time there was a huge consumption of beef by the priestly class.

Does Vedas talk about meat eating?

The Vedas. The Vedic texts have verses that scholars have interpreted to either mean support or opposition to meat-based food. Early Vedic texts such as the Rigveda (10.87.16), states Nanditha Krishna, condemns all killings of men, cattle and horses, and prays to god Agni to punish those who kill.

Was there a ‘Vedic beef-eating’?

There was no ‘Vedic beef-eating’. Here’s what Vedas say on killing cows The problem lies with the inability to interpret the ancient texts in the correct sense. Beef and cow hog the headlines these days.

Do people eat meat in India?

India is a strange country. People do not kill any living creatures, do not keep pigs and fowl, and do not sell live cattle. Hindus, like early Christians and Manichaeans, forbade the killing and eating of meat.

What is the Hinduism view on meat?

Hindus, like early Christians and Manichaeans, forbade the killing and eating of meat. They would not kill an animal on any account, not even a fly, or a flea, or a louse, or anything, in fact, that has life; for they say these have all souls, and it would be sin to do so. India is a strange country.

Why did Buddha say not to kill cows for sacrifice?

Buddha asked people not to kill cows for sacrifice… not to kill beyond what they needed for consumption. From that stage to the modern period, most of the untouchables, for instance, the Dalits in south India, sustained themselves on beef in summer, when there used to be massive food scarcity. They would eat even dead or diseased cattle.