Hindu mythology is famous for its diverse art forms and classical literatures but the most famous myth is about beef or killing of cows. According to the myth propagated by Hindu nationalists, cows are worshipped in ancient India and it was the invaders, both muslim and christian, who brought beef-eating to India. But, facts and religious scriptures prove that it was the vedic-hindus who were among the world's first urban consumers of beef. This was even before Jesus Christ was crucified and 1000 years before Islam was formed.
1)Mahabharata, 500 B.C.: King Rantiveda slaughters 2,000 cows a day in his royal kitchens and distributed beef along with grain to apparently grateful Brahmins, the Hindu priests.
2)Charak Samhita, 100 B.C.: Flesh of cow is prescribed as a medicine for various diseases. It is also prescribed for making soup and advised as a cure for irregular fever, consumption, and emaciation. The fat of the cow is recommended for debility and rheumatism.
3)Taittiriya Brahman , 500 B.C.: Verily the cow is food.
4)Yajnavalkya, one of the most popular hindu sages: ''Some people do not eat cow meat. I do so, provided it's tender.''
5)Sacrificial offering for Indra, the rain God and Agni, the fire God, are bulls and cows. (Perhaps that is why we are having less rain, as we stopped sacrificing cows.)
6)Vedas have mentioned 250 animals out of which at least 50 are fit for sacrifice and human consumption.
7)Manusmriti did not prohibit the consumption of beef.
In many states of India, beef consumption is legally banned, because of a false religious myth. This cow worship is not done out of animal love, as the same 'God' that exists in cows also exists in cockroaches. By this logic, we should be worshiping insects too. The central focus of cow worship is to show muslims as anti-hindus and to create a universal symbol for upper-caste hindu identification. What is not a myth is that, the so-called holy cow is used for un-holy purposes.
Source:1)
hindu.com/2001/08/14/stories/13140833.htm2)
nytimes.com/2002/08/17/books/holy-cow-a-myth-an-indian-finds-the-kick-is-real.html
