This remains true, although our sense for living on a rotating ball in the. No beef in vedas not only the vedas are against animal slaughter but also vehemently oppose and prohibit cow slaughter. Beef eating in ancient india beef was widely eaten in. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of hinduism known as the vedas. The worshippers dress for me fifteen and twenty bulls. Heres what vedas say on killing cows the problem lies with the inability to interpret the ancient texts in the correct sense. There was no beef eating in the vedas until the british said so cows and beef are hogging the headlines these days the hullaballoo around beef bans, beef protests, beef fests and beef.
Nonpolitical 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. Rig veda mainly contains various hymns for praying to vedic gods such as agni fire god, indra the lord of heavens, mitra, varuna water god, surya sun god etc. At the close of the vedic period the cow was still an article of food and was. 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. One who partakes of human flesh, the flesh of a horse or of another animal, and deprives others of milk by slaughtering cows, o king, if such a fiend does not desist by other means, then you should not hesitate to cut off. Hinduism and its complicated history with cows and people who eat. After the fourth century bc, when the practice of vegetarianism spread throughout india among buddhists, jains and hindus, many hindus continued to eat beef. Rigveda simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rigveda, the oldest of the sacred books of hinduism, composed in an ancient form of sanskrit about 1500 bce in what is now the punjab region of india and pakistan. The killing of innocence is a big one, so you do not kill our. Beef eating in vedas and other hindu texts written by ibn muhammad special thanks to brother neer muhammad, who has been really helpful throughout the writing of this article and also gave valuable points. Lactovegetarianism is an integral part of most schools of hinduism although there is a wide variety of practices and beliefs that have changed over time. The entire rigveda text was converted to a clean 7bit ascii file for this pdf file, i. I wrote a special programme to generate this searchable and extractable pdf file.
The rig veda also abounds with the honoring of the sacred nature of the cow, which similarly occurs in hundreds of instances, and continues throughout the entire hindu tradition. Til rigveda 6171 states hindu god indra used to eat. The mantra states that in winter, the rays of sun get weakened and then get strong again in spring. The purpose of this pdf file is to permit of 1 easy searching and 2 easy extracting. Rigveda 6171 states that indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo.
In this era we use sense organmovement, manual force and language based. Beef eating was permitted for example in the rig veda, cows were slaughtered, but later books forbade the killing of cowswhich is why its been banned in several indian states today. A recent photograph of some hindu protesters demanding a ban on nonvegetarian food in restaurants and government canteens in india made me sit up and take notice. But the buddha did not forbid the eating of meat if offered as alms to. Beef consumption and cow slaughter was permitted in ancient. Vedas, upanishads, brahmins, grihsutras, dharmasutras and. Also vedism was a monotheistic religion, hinduism isnt. Eating of meat and beef in the hindu tradition the hindu. It consists of a collection of 1,028 poems grouped into 10 circles mandalas. The deep meaning of the rigveda and its relevance today. Ambedkar on beefeating and hinduism countercurrents.
Was beef eating common during the vedic times in india, and if yes. Why brahmins started worshipping the cow and stop eating. The textual evidence of beef eating which, in fact, begins to be available from the oldest indian religious text rig ved, supposedly of divine origin. Indeed the vedic word for cow gau, also means the earth, the goddess, a ray of light, the senses, the soul, knowledge, the word and many other mystic meanings. The sky and the earth are viewed as two halves of one whole by those who wrote the rig veda. Vedas do not talk about killing or eating cow meat beef.
Was beef eating common during the vedic times in india. Modern hindus forbidden from eating beef but ancient. Verses from the rig veda, apart from containing various prayers and hymns in praise of the. Be gracious unto us, o god, and bless us, and then vouchsafe us doublystrong protection. Countering the false allegations of vedas recommending beef or animal. Like most cattlebreeding cultures, the vedic indians generally ate the castrated steers, but they. In the middle ages a class of ignorant pundits arise in scenario who were fond of meat eating. From ramayana to the vedas, its clear india has a long history of.
Ambedkar on beefeating and hinduism pakistan defence. Rigveda 1085 declares, on the occasion of a girls marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered. Rg veda all 10 mandalas, all in original sanskrit devanagari text. Vedas are replete with beef eating hindu gods, says india. Rigveda 6171 states that indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf. This illustrated edition of the rig veda is presented whole, permitting the reader the fullest comprehension of the holy poetry, the gods of hinduism and the ancient wisdom. The main reason for this misconception is wrong interpretation of the vedic mantras. There is no cow slaughter or beef eating in vedas or any. Another self styled expert in vedas and hindu scriptures d n jha dwijendra narayan jha, a prominent member of the communist school, exhorts the gibberish about same beef eating and cow slaughter without understanding the vedas, hindu scriptures and indian values. Beef eating in vedas and other hindu texts truth about. The others are yajur veda or yahurveda, sama veda and atharva veda. The rigveda samhita is the core text, and is a collection of 10 books maalas.
Pdf beef controversy in india 4parts nithin sridhar academia. I believe that these protesters are ignorant of what their religion preaches. The rig and sama veda call the cow aghnya and aditi, ie. By one estimate, 30% of all hindus are ovolacto vegetarians. Rigveda, manusmiriti sanction beefeating, the milli gazette, vol. Rigveda 1085,on the occasion of a girls marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered. Rigveda 6171 states that indraused to eat the meat ofcow, calf. Vedas on animal sacrifice and beef eating the arya samaj. Til rigveda 6171 states hindu god indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo. There was a time in this very india when, without eating beef, no brahmin could remain a.
The mantra states tht in winter, the rays of sun get weak n then get strong again in spring. For centuries aspersions have been cast upon the vedas. The rig veda is the oldest of them and it consists of 1,028 vedic sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all. Beef eating in vedas and other hindu texts truth about hinduism. Vedas are replete with beef eating hindu gods, says indias leading indologist rig veda says that indra, hindu god of rain and heaven, ate beef. This belief forms a part of a wider central value system, which seeks to establish a relationship. The word used for sunrays in go which also means cow and hence the mantra can also be translated by making cow and not sunrays as the subject. That the aryans of the rig veda did kill cows for purposes of food and ate beef is abundantly clear from the rig veda itself. If there is any doubt about the most popular of the vedas, then it is that whether there is a law of animal sacrifices, meateating etc. They are simply going against their own religious scriptures. A sociolegal perspective of cow slaughter in india anhad singh miglani iii year, b. Scholars have known for centuries that the ancient indians ate beef.
Rig veda or rigveda means praiseverse of knowledge. Most surveys, including one by the office of registrar general and census commissioner of india, show 60% to 70% or even more of indians eat meat. Download the rig veda free pdf ebook and audio version. In the agnadheya, which was a preparatory rite preceding all public sacrifices, a cow was required to be killed. The doctrine gets a strong position by the time of the completion of the mahabharata, say at the beginning of the gupta dynasty, aboutj was the made 4th fir centurym doctrinally a d. Read to debunk the myths of vedas having support of beefeating. Upananda brahmachari henb haridwar oct 10, 2015 there is no mention of cow slaughter or beef eating in vedas or any authenticated sanatan shatras scriptures nor it is a hindu custom at all. In a hymn of the rigveda, it is said that indra will eat thy bulls. A rigveda 1085 declares, on the occasion of a girls marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered. Anybody can create a quotation and tell that it is from sama veda, 6th chapter 11th stanza second line. Maharishi yagnavalkya, a revered vedic sage, who is mentioned in the oldest upanishadic scriptures, said regarding eating ox in shatpath brahmin 3. The rigveda describes horses, buffaloes, rams and goats as sacrificial. I am getting really angry when they say our gods and sages were eating beef, quoting puranas and vedas another person. Seriously people probeef will argue muh history of beef eating and their wrong interpretation of the vedas.
Rigveda 111410 vedas says to keep away from the killer of the cow far be thy dart that killeth men or cattle. The rig vedamandala 10 wikisource, the free online library. Now lets see the translation of the above mantra as per maharishi dayanand saraswati in line with nirukta bhashya. Yajurveda forbids killing of cows, for they provide energizing food for human beings.
This mantra describes the advantages of grain eating. Written by an anonymous author or authors during indias antiquity, the rig veda sometimes referred to simply as rigveda literally translates to shrine knowledge in ancient sanskrit. This is again a big misconception that the vedas supports animal sacrifice in yajnas. Similarly, nirukta bhashya 111107 describes soma as moon. Animal sacrifices in hindu scriptures dawah materials. The rig veda book 6, hymns 16 17 discuss sacrifices as well. But there is no more brahmin supermacy in this world and i find it amazing that people still think they are somehow sticking it up to the supreme caste by eating beef. If one really started believing in those aspersions, the entire hindu philosophy, culture, and traditions would reduce to nothing but savagery, barbarism and cannibalism. Nirukta bhashya 5 and rig veda 91079 have described soma as cows milk. Our forefathers were not wearing shirt and trousers. One who partakes of human flesh, the flesh of a horse or of another animal, and deprives others of milk by slaughtering cows, o king, if such a fiend does not desist by other means, then you should not hesitate to cut off his head. It is one of the four sacred canonical texts of hinduism known as the vedas the text is layered consisting of the samhita, brahmanas, aranyakas and upanishads.