prohibition of eating beef in hinduism

[Vinayaka]

All things except the flesh is used by Hindus. Buffalo meat is eaten by lower castes, I do not exactly know if some eat cow meat also. Or probably it is sold to Muslims.

Not sure how true it is, but I've heard a lot of buffalo meat is sold as beef. The meat industry can be deceptive.

 

[DeviChaaya]

Actually we can and do die of old age, as do animals. I'm sure we've all had pets that simply died in their sleep at advanced ages, not to mention human relativse. But the manner of our deaths, barring murder or slaughter, is not my question; I don't know what is done with the remains of a service animal. I read somewhere once that Gandhi (love him or despise him) even said that the remains of mother cow should be put to good use... horns, bones, skin, etc. He didn't address the flesh, however, afaik.

Not to derail but no, Jai, we do not die of old age. We die of something no longer working. Our pets tend to die of kidney failure and liver failure. Advanced ageddoesn't kill. Indeed in the medical community we do not even know exactly why we age. There are roughly 7 theories and none of them have been proven.

Back onto the topic of if the animal still died and to address Kalidas; prion diseases cannot be removed from meat. Prions are the reason for Mad Cow Disease and are water insoluble proteins that generally attack the brain. They're also incurable and cannotbe removed from the meat through cooking or cchemicals. There are also quite a lot of nasty bacteria that cannot be entirely removed from meat no matter how much you ttreat it.

That's also not entirely true. Males are primarily used as draft animals, yoked in pairs. A small cart or plow might require only one or two animals, but a large cart could require up to 8-10 pairs of animals, almost always males because of their strength.

Yes; but you do not need 50 bulls to 300 cows. Oxen have their uses buy it's a lot more limited than cows. Even today; especially in the west, male cattle are killed for their meat while the females are required for breeding.

I try not to eat beef where I can. My girlfriend's family even go to the effort of excluding it if they know I'm visiting. Unlike my own family, unfortunately. I think my mother willfuly forgets.

 

[Jainarayan]

Not to derail but no, Jai, we do not die of old age. We die of something no longer working. Our pets tend to die of kidney failure and liver failure. Advanced ageddoesn't kill. Indeed in the medical community we do not even know exactly why we age. There are roughly 7 theories and none of them have been proven.

That's technically correct but I think it's a matter of semantics. It's true we don't simply stop living at 90 years old even though we're healthy, we must succumb to something that appears in old age.

Yes; but you do not need 50 bulls to 300 cows. Oxen have their uses buy it's a lot more limited than cows. Even today; especially in the west, male cattle are killed for their meat while the females are required for breeding.

Yes, I've always said that it's the castrated males, steers, that are killed for beef, while for the most part cows past their prime are slaughtered for other products and pet foods, not beef. That it's the males that are slaughtered for beef doesn't justify breaking the cultural taboo against killing gomata, however.

I try not to eat beef where I can. My girlfriend's family even go to the effort of excluding it if they know I'm visiting. Unlike my own family, unfortunately. I think my mother willfuly forgets.

I've tried for the past month or two to go vegetarian, but I began gaining weight, and getting bloated. It's the carbs (I do better metabolically on lower carb, moderate fat and protein). At any rate, I avoid beef to the extent I'd know it was beef. I panicked when I thought "Oh my God! I have liverwurst and salami in the fridge!" I read the label and found they do not contain beef as those products often do.

In the end, I think we're in agreement, just saying it differently, or seeing different parts. Like the elephant.

 

[Aupmanyav]

To my understanding, even anti-Hindu scholars like Witzel and Doniger acknowledge that the Purushamedha was symbolic.

Ashwamedha and Purushamedha sure were symbolic (just before historic times), but who can say what the situation was 12-15,000 years ago (I believe in the theory that Indian Aryans migrated from near-polar regions some 20,000 years ago with the coming of the last ice-age (Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Arctic Home in Vedas). You are welcome to have a good laugh if you feel like it ).

 

[Jainarayan]

...You are welcome to have a good laugh if you feel like it ).

I would not laugh, and I have my reasons. But I think the are beyond the scope of this thread. I'll share them elsewhere if you like.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I read that the Vedas defines Hinduism and that's how Hinduism differs from the other 'isms' of the East.

IMHO, Vedas do not define Hinduism. They are a part of it. There are other parts as well.

 

[Haryaksha]

Ashwamedha and Purushamedha sure were symbolic (just before historic times), but who can say what the situation was 12-15,000 years ago (I believe in the theory that Indian Aryans migrated from near-polar regions some 20,000 years ago with the coming of the last ice-age (Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Arctic Home in Vedas). You are welcome to have a good laugh if you feel like it ).

I would not laugh, and I have my reasons. But I think the are beyond the scope of this thread. I'll share them elsewhere if you like.

I won't laugh either

Jainarayan, please do share your thoughts elsewhere, as I am interested in learning more about this perspective of Vedic chronology.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Spoiler: Ice-age in Vendidad? - http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm

2. The first of the good lands and countries which I, Ahura Mazda, created, was the Airyana Vaeja, by the Vanguhi (River) Daitya.
Thereupon came Angra Mainyu, who is all death, and he counter-created the serpent in the river and Winter, a work of the Daevas.

3. There are ten winter months there, two summer months; and those are cold for the waters, cold for the earth, cold for the trees. Winter falls there, the worst of all plagues. [Hum 35: "Ten are there the winter months, two the summer months, and even then [in summer] the waters are freezing, the earth is freezing, the plants are freezing; there is the center of winter, there is the heart of winter, there winter rushes around, there (occur) most damages caused by storm."]

 

[Jainarayan]

I won't laugh either

Jainarayan, please do share your thoughts elsewhere, as I am interested in learning more about this perspective of Vedic chronology.

You have a PM.