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The Ban on Beef

Last evening the t v anchors had a ball.  The sensational ‘breaking news’ of a man lynched for the alleged transgression of the ban on #beef was playing on all channels. Thus popped up another facet of the increasing vigilantism being brought to the fore by what a Social Scientist has called the pseudo-religiosity of the dominant power in Indian politics today.

I could not help delving deep into my memory to recollect having read that outstanding book Science and Society in Ancient India by that doyen of Indic studies and ancient Indian philosophies, Debi Prasad Chattopadhyay.

Today early in the morning I spent a good part of an hour searching through my disorganised library till I found the book.  Notwithstanding the feasting on its leaves by bookworms I was able to find some interesting quotations from the Charaka Samhita dealing with the uses of meat and particularly the flesh of the cow in healing as practiced by the ancient physicians.  Throughout the night I had been disturbed by the contradictory thought that the prohibition of sacrifice of the revered animal had finally ended up in the human sacrifice reported.

Some excerpts from the original Sanskrit text quoted in the book are below:

What then are the specific qualities of the cow’s flesh?

Atreya answers: “The flesh of the cow is beneficial for those suffering from loss of flesh due to disorders caused by excess of vayu, rhinitis, irregular fever ... ...and also in cases of excessive appetite resulting from hard work.

And then it goes on to say:

Since persons suffering from consumption are badly in need of adding flesh to their bodies and since the physicians think that the cow’s flesh is ... ... promotive of flesh and plumpness, they freely recommend it for the consumptive patients, along with a number of alternatives to it... ...

Here I must add that gem of an observation to be found in the morning’s newspaper, by a learned Minister of the Government of India who says,

“ ... ...Sanskrit is the voice of India’s soul and wisdom. Sanskrit literature is a great repository of knowledge.” 

We would do well to remember that the Charaka Samhita is part of that great repository.