Saifullah Sani
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The killing of an Indian Muslim man allegedly lynched last month by a Hindu mob who suspected him of having slaughtered and eaten a cow, has refocused attention on attitudes toward the animal in a constitutionally secular country with a Hindu majority.
Historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha, who has drawn fire from Hindu nationalists for writing that Hinduism hasn’t always regarded beef-eating as an offense, said the recent cow-related violence was part of a “dangerous trend of increasing intolerance in the country.”
The former Delhi University professor, who is now retired, says he received death threats after the publication of a 2001 book about beef in Indians’ dietary traditions and based on ancient texts, “The Myth of the Holy Cow.”
In an email interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Jha discussed the emergence of the cow as a sacred animal and the politics of meat among conservative Hindus.
Edited excerpts:
The Wall Street Journal:Where does the Hindu belief in the sanctity of the cow come from?
Dwijendra Narayan Jha: There was no sacred cow concept in the Vedic period[around 800-1500 B.C.] in India.
The Vedic Aryans sacrificed the cow in religious sacrifices and ate its flesh.
The cow was most frequently used in similes and metaphors in the Vedic texts and these may have been taken literally in the course of time.
While this may partially account for the supposed sanctity of the cow in later centuries, there is much in ancient Indian texts to suggest that cow killing for sacrificial purposes, continued side by side.
WSJ: When did Hindus start to eschew beef eating?
Mr. Jha: It was only in the early Christian centuries, around the middle of the first millennium A.D., that the Brahminical texts began to discourage and even disapprove of cow slaughter.
This change of attitude can be understood against the general background of the transformation of the rural society in post -Mauryan centuries, especially from around the middle of the first millennium A.D., which ushered in a phase of unprecedented agrarian expansion. Brahmins emerged as a feudal land owning class and, unlike in the earlier period, became more and more involved in agriculture. This led to the recognition of the pivotal role of animal husbandry, and the disapproval of killing of cattle by the Brahmins. All this is encapsulated in the concept of kali age in which many age-old practices came to be forbidden.
WSJ: Is eating cow meat incompatible with Hinduism today?
Mr. Jha: There is substantial evidence in ancient Indian texts which testify to the prevalence of the practice of beef eating for many centuries in ancient India. The practice gradually disappeared in those regions, which are now called the “cow belt.” But it has continued in many other parts of the country, especially Kerala and north eastern states. In Kerala, 72 communities eat beef and many of them are Hindus. So, I would not say that beef eating is incompatible with Hinduism. But, at the same time there are many Hindus who would not even touch beef or even meat or fish.
What may be unacceptable to one set of Hindus may be acceptable to another.
WSJ: What do you think of the current debate about the protection of the cow going on in India?
Mr. Jha: The state has no right to interfere with the citizens’ food preferences. The ban ignores the fact that beef is a comparatively cheap source of protein for lower castes and the poor. Also, the beef ban is bound to adversely affect the livelihoods of the people engaged in the meat industry and this has its own ramifications on different aspects of the Indian economy.
Q&A: D.N. Jha, Author of ‘The Myth of the Holy Cow’ - India Real Time - WSJ
Historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha, who has drawn fire from Hindu nationalists for writing that Hinduism hasn’t always regarded beef-eating as an offense, said the recent cow-related violence was part of a “dangerous trend of increasing intolerance in the country.”
The former Delhi University professor, who is now retired, says he received death threats after the publication of a 2001 book about beef in Indians’ dietary traditions and based on ancient texts, “The Myth of the Holy Cow.”
In an email interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Jha discussed the emergence of the cow as a sacred animal and the politics of meat among conservative Hindus.
Edited excerpts:
The Wall Street Journal:Where does the Hindu belief in the sanctity of the cow come from?
Dwijendra Narayan Jha: There was no sacred cow concept in the Vedic period[around 800-1500 B.C.] in India.
The Vedic Aryans sacrificed the cow in religious sacrifices and ate its flesh.
The cow was most frequently used in similes and metaphors in the Vedic texts and these may have been taken literally in the course of time.
While this may partially account for the supposed sanctity of the cow in later centuries, there is much in ancient Indian texts to suggest that cow killing for sacrificial purposes, continued side by side.
WSJ: When did Hindus start to eschew beef eating?
Mr. Jha: It was only in the early Christian centuries, around the middle of the first millennium A.D., that the Brahminical texts began to discourage and even disapprove of cow slaughter.
This change of attitude can be understood against the general background of the transformation of the rural society in post -Mauryan centuries, especially from around the middle of the first millennium A.D., which ushered in a phase of unprecedented agrarian expansion. Brahmins emerged as a feudal land owning class and, unlike in the earlier period, became more and more involved in agriculture. This led to the recognition of the pivotal role of animal husbandry, and the disapproval of killing of cattle by the Brahmins. All this is encapsulated in the concept of kali age in which many age-old practices came to be forbidden.
WSJ: Is eating cow meat incompatible with Hinduism today?
Mr. Jha: There is substantial evidence in ancient Indian texts which testify to the prevalence of the practice of beef eating for many centuries in ancient India. The practice gradually disappeared in those regions, which are now called the “cow belt.” But it has continued in many other parts of the country, especially Kerala and north eastern states. In Kerala, 72 communities eat beef and many of them are Hindus. So, I would not say that beef eating is incompatible with Hinduism. But, at the same time there are many Hindus who would not even touch beef or even meat or fish.
What may be unacceptable to one set of Hindus may be acceptable to another.
WSJ: What do you think of the current debate about the protection of the cow going on in India?
Mr. Jha: The state has no right to interfere with the citizens’ food preferences. The ban ignores the fact that beef is a comparatively cheap source of protein for lower castes and the poor. Also, the beef ban is bound to adversely affect the livelihoods of the people engaged in the meat industry and this has its own ramifications on different aspects of the Indian economy.
Q&A: D.N. Jha, Author of ‘The Myth of the Holy Cow’ - India Real Time - WSJ
