Beef-eating and caste Some dharma texts composed in this same period insist that cows should not be eaten. Some Hindus who did eat meat made a special exception and did not eat the meat of cow.
All of India's most widely practiced religions have dietary laws and traditions. For example, Hindu texts often praise vegetarianism, and Hindus may also avoid eating beef because cows are traditionally viewed as sacred.
Yajnavalkya says, 'I eat it (beef) only if it is cooked till it is tender'." The king of the gods, Indra, too is said to be fond of beef, Bhaduri reminds. In the Rig Veda, Indra demands that he be served 15 to 20 cooked oxen. Bhaduri now adds that it was a custom in the Vedic ages to offer a cow to a priest.
Manusmriti (Chapter 5 / Verse 30) says, “It is not sinful to eat the meat of eatable animals, for Brahma has created both the eaters and the eatables.” Where the concern of eating beef really belongs is its effect on the human spirit and whether or not eating beef is considered sinful.
Beef is always avoided because the cow is considered a holy animal, but dairy products are eaten. Animal-derived fats such as lard and dripping are not permitted. Some Hindus do not eat ghee, milk, onions, eggs, coconut, garlic, domestic fowl or salted pork. Alcohol is generally avoided.
Hindus, who make up about 80 per cent of India's 1.4 billion people, are not prohibited from eating pork, but many consider the meat impure and this has made restaurants wary about putting it on their menus.
Forbidden food substances include alcohol, pork, carrion, the meat of carnivores and animals that died due to illness, injury, stunning, poisoning, or slaughtering not in the name of God.
There is no state ban on beef in West Bengal, Kerala, and North-Eastern states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim. In most states, cow slaughtering is declared illegal; for example, in Tamil Nadu, cow slaughtering is banned by up to 3 years in jail and a Rs.
In Leviticus 11, the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron and sets out which animals can be eaten and which cannot: “You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.
The cow, a revered animal in Hinduism
It represents Mother Earth, as it is a source of goodness and its milk nourishes all creatures. Krishna, a central Hindu deity, is often portrayed in stories recounting his life as a cowherd and referring to him as the child who protects cows.
Most Hindus generally avoid consuming beef as it is considered to be unethical and immoral. This is because a cow is a sacred animal in the Hindu religion and is worshipped by the people. However, Muslims and Christians engage in the consumption of beef very often.
For many Chinese Buddhists, beef and the consumption of large animals and exotic species is avoided.
Dietary avoidance out of politeness. Sikhs also generally avoid eating beef because the cow, the buffalo and the ox are an integral part of rural Sikh livelihoods. Similarly, they avoid eating pork when they are in the company of Muslims. However, there is no religious prohibition about eating beef and pork.
In Christianity, no dietary restrictions exists and any kind of meat has been eaten across Christian followers in different parts of India for centuries.
Around 63.4 million Muslims consume beef/buffalo. That adds upto 40% of the total Muslim population. For Christians, this figure is around 26.5%. Although, less than 2% Hindus eat beef/buffalo, they are ranked second in absolute terms.
Both Judaism and Islam have prohibited eating pork and its products for thousands of years. Scholars have proposed several reasons for the ban to which both religions almost totally adhere. Pork, and the refusal to eat it, possesses powerful cultural baggage for Jews.
After the Great Flood, God changes the rule, allowing consumption of meat: “Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these” (Gen. 9:3). There are, however, restrictions: “You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it.
God does not want us to eat meat. People are made in God's image and animals are not, but this spiritual difference is not sufficiently morally significant to allow killing animals for food. Killing another person is a capital crime and a sin. Killing an animal is just a sin.
Jesus ate fish and is seen as completely without sin, suggesting that eating fish is not a sin. The Bible does not explicitly state that Jesus ate any meat other than fish, and Webb cites the fact that no lamb is mentioned at the Last Supper as evidence that he did not.
Cattle hold a traditional place as objects of reverence in countries such as India. Some Hindus, particularly Brahmins, are vegetarian and strictly abstain from eating meat. All of those who do eat meat abstain from the consumption of beef, as the cow holds a sacred place in Hinduism.
Scholars have known for centuries that the ancient Indians ate beef.
Among Hindus, 83% say they are either vegetarians or have restrictions on what kinds of meat they eat or when. The survey also finds that most Hindus say a person cannot be Hindu if they eat beef, and most Muslims say a person cannot be Muslim if they eat pork (see Chapter 5).
What did Jesus eat on a typical day? The short answer: a lot of bread. Bread was a staple in the typical daily diet in the first-century Greco-Roman world, supplemented with limited amounts of local fruits and vegetables, oil, and salt. Bread in first-century Galilee would have been made with wheat or barley flour.
Pork is a food taboo among Jews, Muslims, and some Christian denominations. Swine were prohibited in ancient Syria and Phoenicia, and the pig and its flesh represented a taboo observed, Strabo noted, at Comana in Pontus.
The Council of Jerusalem instructed gentile Christians not to consume blood, food offered to idols, or the meat of strangled animals, since "the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath." In Judaism, Jews are forbidden from consuming (amongst ...