There is a lot of uproar nowadays on beef consumption in India (largely Hindu nation), where the cow is regarded as a holy animal. So, when did the cow become sacred? You would be surprised after knowing ‘How Hindus Came To Not Eating Beef’.

Eating or selling the flesh of cows (Beef) is one of the most sinful acts in Hindu religion. The cow is considered as a sacred/holy animal by most of Hindus and killing her is considered as a big sin, above that selling her meat is greater sin and then eating that meat is the unforgivable sin. Whether Brahmin or not, every Hindu will swear to not eating cow meat. The question to ask here is why they are so against cow meat? What is so special about this particular animal?

In previous Yugas, the Vedic injunction was given “Jiyaite pare yadi tabe mare prani veda-purane ache hena ajna vane”, meaning that one can take the life of a living being only if one is able to revive it back to life again by chanting Vedic mantras. But this injunction has been terminated with respect to Kali Yuga in the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, where it is stated that it is forbidden to kill cows under any circumstances.

The Rig Veda too refers to the cow as Aghanya or ‘the one who does not deserve to be killed’. The Rig Veda further goes on to address the cow as Mother of Rudras, the Daughter of Vasus, the sister of the Adityas and the Centre of Nectar. There is no doubt that the cow was sacred to the Aryans and that they would never kill it for any purpose.

But does this conclusive evidence prove in any way that Hindus – Brahmins or Non-Brahmins, did not eat beef at one time? The answer to that question lies in the finer details of ‘Brahmanas’ (ancient Indian texts). In Taittiriya Brahmana, it is clearly written that a dwarf ox should be chosen for sacrifice to Vishnu, a black cow to Pushan and a red cow to Rudra. It even says that “the killing of the cow for the guest had grown to such an extent that the guest came to be called ‘Go-ghna’ which means the killer of the cow. To avoid this slaughter of the cows, the Ashvateyana Grahya Sutra (1.24.25) suggests that the cow should be let loose when the guest comes so as to escape the rule of etiquette.”

With these ancient texts of the Brahmanas, it is pretty clear that at one time not only did Hindus eat flesh but also cow meat. But if that is the case then at what point in history did such a big transformation happen?

This transformation can be referred back to that time when Ashoka was the king. King Ashoka, a monarch of India becomes Buddhist after witnessing firsthand the huge number of casualties caused by one of his military campaigns. At this time, he was sincerely grieved and, as a result, he converted to Buddhism, after which this once ruthless, cruel and bloody leader became transformed into a kind and gentle person.  He brought about a number of changes and established some of the first animal rights laws. In his edicts, King Ashoka expresses his concern about the number of animals killed to provide him with a meal and his intentions to end such killing. He, therefore, stopped the royal hunting parties and ended the killing of animals for the royal kitchen and abstained from eating meat. He outlawed the sacrifice of animals and made it illegal to kill many species such as parrots, ducks, geese, bats, turtles, squirrels, monkeys and rhinos.

His pillar edicts point to a change in the eating habits through proper legislation. Edict V says: “Twenty-six years after my coronation various animals were declared to be protected — parrots, ruddy geese, mainas, wild ducks, queen ants, bats, terrapins, fish, boneless fish, tortoises, squirrels, porcupines, deer, wild asses, bulls, wild pigeons, domestic pigeons and all four-footed creatures that are neither useful nor edible.”

Though some historians argue that it is not conclusive proof as to Non-Brahmins being forced to not eat beef, it does hold some ground. This edict also brings us to another important question as to why the Brahmins then stop eating flesh or meat of any kind if Asoka had only banned the sacrifice of above-mentioned animals.

The answer to this question lies in the tussle for supremacy between Brahmanism and Buddhism. Over a period of time mainly after the emergence of Buddhism or rather as an accompaniment of the Brahminical attack on Buddhism, the practices started being looked on with different emphasis. The threat posed by Buddhism to the Brahminical value system was too severe. In response to low castes slipping away from the grip of Brahminism, the battle was taken up at all the levels. At the philosophical level, Sankara reasserted the supremacy of Brahminical values, at political level King Pushyamitra Shung ensured the physical attack on Buddhist monks, at the level of symbols King Shashank got the Bodhi tree (where Gautama the Buddha got Enlightenment) destroyed.

One of the appeals to the spread of Buddhism was the protection of cattle wealth, which was needed for the agricultural economy. In a way while Brahminism `succeeded’ in banishing Buddhism from India, it had also to transform itself from the `animal sacrifice’ state to the one which could be in tune with the times. It is here that this ideology took up the cow as a symbol of their ideological march. Also, the Buddhists had completely rejected the ritual of Yajna by Brahmins which consisted of sacrificing the cows. This was in accordance to the laws by Ashoka. As the Brahmins were extremely looked down for this ritual and called Gognha (the one who kills cows), the Brahmins decided to give up eating flesh, cow’s or not, altogether.

In time, killing and eating cow’s meat became intolerable as propagated by various religious heads is now established as an unpardonable sin.