Rigveda and References to Consumption of Bovine Meat by Ancient Hindus
You will be surprised to know Hinduism has never been a religion or identity as such. It was a way of life. The word Hindu was given by Avestans (ancient Persians) who pronounced Sindhu as Hindu to the people who live near Sindhu. Then later Greeks gave the word Indus for similar challenges with the phonetics. Ancient texts did not find any such word called “Hindu” but yes Sindhu river has been discussed in Rigveda. Latter for political reasons, Hindu was established more by the Islamic rulers and then by the British, and subsequently, Hindutva was coined and propagated by right-wing groups.
Vedas has been guiding principles for the Hindu way of life. Four of them have been created at different intervals
1] Rigveda
2] Yajurveda
3]Samaveda
4] Atharvaveda.
Rigveda is the oldest among them and the others are mere customizations of Rigveda. For this study, I will consider Rigveda which is the oldest.
Why Rigveda is important?
Not only it is the oldest Veda, but the wider interest is also in Rigveda. A simple google trend analysis over the interest in different Vedas reveals that Rigveda outnumbered others by miles.
Hence it makes sense to take it as a reference. I referred to Rigveda scripts published by the Government of India, Ministry of Culture for the authenticity of various versus used. For translation, I used the English translation used by Ralph T. H. Griffith, 1896 which is considered as one of the most authentic translations to date.
References to Bovine meat
There are some references to various kinds of meat including Bovine meat served to Indra. Indra is one of the most popular gods in Rigveda. Surprisingly these verses are less discussed compared to others but remain an interesting part of the conversation around meat consumption. These hymns indicate sacrifice of buffalo was common in ancient Hindu culture, unlike the one which is prevailing now.
त्री यच्छ॒ता म॑हि॒षाणा॒मघो॒ मास्त्री सरां॑सि म॒घवा॑ सो॒म्यापा॑: ।का॒रं न विश्वे॑ अह्वन्त दे॒वा भर॒मिन्द्रा॑य॒ यदहिं॑ ज॒घान॑ ॥८॥
“When thou three hundred buffaloes’ flesh hadst eaten, and drunk, as Maghavan, three lakes of Soma, All the Gods raised as ‘twere a shout of triumph to Indra praise because he slew the Dragon.”
Ref: Rigveda Mandala 5, Sukta 29, 8th Hymn
ता मे॑ अश्विना सनी॒नां वि॒द्यातं॒ नवा॑नाम् । यथा॑ चिच्चै॒द्यः क॒शुः श॒तमुष्ट्रा॑नां॒ दद॑त्स॒हस्रा॒ दश॒ गोना॑म् ॥३॥॥
As such, O Asvins, find for me my share of new-presented gifts, As Kasu, Cedi’s son gave me a hundred head of buffaloes and ten thousand kine.
Ref: Rigveda Madala 8, Sukta 5, 37th Hymn
There are references to eating other kinds of meat in both cooked uncooked form. Horse meat has been referred to as well and raw meat was served to God Agni. This only indicates during those times vegetarianism could have been less popular. It is interesting to also note that the word Soma (Samaras) always comes along with the flesh-eating. There are nearly 1500 references of Soma/Somaras/Soma juice.
There are controversies about references to beef as well but it leads to understanding disputes between experts. There are two chapters on cows which does not indicate any direct reference to beef-eating. However, at one place though, Agni has been referred to as feeding on cows and ox. This is again cryptic and open to interpretation.
उ॒क्षान्ना॑य व॒शान्ना॑य॒ सोम॑पृष्ठाय वे॒धसे॑ । स्तोमै॑र्विधेमा॒ग्नये॑ ॥११॥
Ref: Rigveda Mandala 8, Sukta 43, 11th Hymn
Which means “Let us serve Agni with our hymns, Disposer, fed on ox and cow, Who bears the Soma on his back.”
I tried to validate this with rishi Aurobindio’s interpretation which says “May we ordain sacrifice with the lauds to Fire, the ordainer of things, Fire who makes the ox and the cow his food and he bears on his back the Soma wine. (353)”.
Aurobindo's interpretation is also considered authentic. There is a close resemblance between the two but one is passive and another active making complete comparison difficult.
Hence we can safely conclude that there is evidence of the sacrifice of buffaloes but there is no direct evidence or reference of cows. Besides, the cow has been referred to as cattle in Rigveda, with there is nothing to worship. In almost all places I found cow has been referred with the consumption of milk. If there is any other interpretation found from authentic sources, I will be happy to refer them or update my findings.
The content discussed here is for research purposes only and complements the existing body of knowledge. Counter arguments and constructive criticism are welcome.
