Hinduism, beef eating and slaughtering of cows

[Pleroma]

Why are Hindus so offended by beef eating and slaughtering of cows when cows were sacrificed to Indra in the historical Vedic religion and when the great sage Maharshi Yajnavalkya himself was very much fond of eating beef?

21. He (the Adhvaryu) then makes him enter the hall. Let him not eat (the flesh) of either the cow or the ox; for the cow and the ox doubtless support everything here on earth. The gods spake, 'Verily, the cow and the ox support everything here: come, let us bestow on the cow and the ox whatever vigour belongs to other species 1!' Accordingly they bestowed on the cow and the ox whatever vigour belonged to other species (of animals); and therefore the cow and the ox eat most. Hence, were one to eat (the flesh) of an ox or a cow, there would be, as it were, an eating of everything, or, as it were, a going on to the end (or, to destruction). Such a one indeed would be likely to be born (again) as a strange being, (as one of whom there is) evil report, such as 'he has expelled an embryo from a woman,' 'he has committed a sin 2;' let him therefore not eat (the flesh) of the cow and the ox. Nevertheless Yâgñavalkya said, 'I, for one, eat it, provided that it is tender.'

- Satapatha Brahmana 3:1:2:21

 

[Poeticus]

Why are Hindus so offended by beef eating and slaughtering of cows when cows were sacrificed to Indra in the historical Vedic religion and when the great sage Maharshi Yajnavalkya himself was very much fond of eating beef?

Logging back on to just say the following, because such a topic is redundantly IQ boggling:

1. You've been a member of RF since 2012. And yet have not the ten or twenty related threads sufficed? There is something called the "search" feature. It would be of great use to actually use it.
2. The example of Yajnavalkya is to be found in the karmakanda. If you are not of the karmakanda or in other words, if you are not of the schools that officiate the yajna, then there is no need to worry about such a thing.
3. Most Hindus don't eat beef. It's such a yatudhana thing to do. And if that bothers you, too bad. Cry me a river. Oh, and I'd hardly call Yajnavalkya a "maharishi"; the Saptarshi list to be found in the JB is more than enough.
4. "Historical Vedic religion": hahaha. Since when did something of the fringe become representative of all of Bharat? Freakin' Indologists. ​

 

[Red Zambala]

There are 2 parts (or actually 3)
1. When we understand that a Cow is an alive sentient being like anybody of us (and some say even more precious than us in some aspects) - the people in their right mind would never hurt it - that is clear....

2. In some Upanishads and Vedanta Sutras - God - Brahman Himself - has been characterized as All-Eater , the One who eats all, who is "Vaiśvānara is Brahman" , the fire of eating is Brahman....Hence - we may assume that Yajnavalkya himself stands here for Guru, for God....and hence He eats all...

3...Recommendation to worry less about so much theoretical problems......If you don't eat meat for almost all your life - that's fine - find some other problems to worry about...

“But he who worships this Vaiśvānara Self extending from heaven to the earth as identical with his own self, eats food in all beings, in all selves; of that Vaiśvānara self Sutejā (heaven) is the head, the sun the eye”, etc. (Chh. 5. 18. 1-2). (Chāņdogya Upanišad)

 

[Maya3]

It's himsa (violence) to eat animals.

Maya

 

[Chakra]

This is the exact same thing as what Aup was talking about. Hindus and beef | ReligiousForums.com

Either way, if you look at "Similar Threads", you'll find many threads that are related to beef-eating and such.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Why are Hindus so offended by beef eating and slaughtering of cows when cows were sacrificed to Indra in the historical Vedic religion and when the great sage Maharshi Yajnavalkya himself was very much fond of eating beef?

Times change, traditions change. India gave importance to non-violence rather than violence.

See a post made by me today, even the Gods are voluntarily opting for abolition of animal sacrifice. It's faith vs law for Himachal devotees | Page 2 | ReligiousForums.com

 

[Poeticus]

...even the Gods are voluntarily opting for abolition of animal sacrifice...

More like: rigorist Hindus with an identity crisis enforce their imperialistic views of Dharma on folk-Hindus, all the while allowing the obscenely high levels of butchery across India by non-Hindus to continue.

QED. End of story.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Well, Lomash Rishi and Sari Nag, along with other Gods and Goddesses who accepted to go without animal sacrifice (as conveyed by their spokes persons) earlier are under no compulsion. Some other Gods and Goddesses are not so inclined.

 

[Vinayaka]

This is just too old. Don't we have some current problems to talk about? The past is over.

 

[Poeticus]

Well, Lomash Rishi and Sari Nag, along with other Gods and Goddesses who accepted to go without animal sacrifice (as conveyed by their spokes persons) earlier are under no compulsion. Some other Gods and Goddesses are not so inclined.

..."as conveyed by their spokespersons"...

Can these "spokespersons" be at least somewhat consistent in their condemnations and go out of their hypocritical comfort-zones and bring to light the thousands of cows and goats slaughtered each year by non-Hindu Indians? Or does that affect their warped notions of what constitutes as secular?

 

[Aupmanyav]

The spokespersons cannot do this. But, yes, if the Gods and Goddesses desire, they can do it - easily.

 

[Poeticus]

The spokespersons cannot do this. But, yes, if the Gods and Goddesses desire, they can do it - easily.

Perhaps, the gods have forsaken them altogether because they have grown uncomfortable with a Bharat they no longer can identify with. After all, you have Dharmics vigorously imposing on other Dharmics what they find as legitimate but not follow through with helping to stop the slaughter of the cow in all of India. And that, the gods can never accept. Either way, it really shouldn't be that hard to understand what I am trying to say, not unless one has severe issues with reading comprehension.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It might come in time, now that Modi is around. Deities require a nimmitta.