Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

Author(s): Bansidhar Bhatt
Publisher: B J Institute

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HOLY-COW IN ....
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killing certain animals, birds, etc. (cf. Norman-1 pp. 26-32). In his rock edict, it is mentioned that, though earlier many hundred thousands of living animals were slaughtered daily for the meals in the royal kitchen, but from now on, only three animals are being killed daily, and soon none will be killed (cf. Alsdorf2. p.461). But what stricks us the more is an utter absence of any statement with regard to prohibition of cow-slaughter visà-vis the holy-cow taboo in particular.
Studies in Asokan edicts and inscriptions present a different picture of the emperor Asoka. He is well-known for the righteousness in propagating and practising the dharma of ahimsa in particular. In one of his rock edicts, he informs: "At present thanks to the practising of the dharma by the king (Asoka) ... that which formerly during many centuries had not existed, at present prospers by the instruction on the dharma of the king (Asoka) .... abstention from murder, abstention from harming living beings ..." (Alsdorf-2 p.434; cf. Norman-2 pp. 16-24, especially p. 16).
Asoka treated every being equal, e.g. ascetics and householders, followers of different sects, e.g. Buddhists, brahmins, aj" ivikas, nirgranthas, etc. (cf. Alsdorf-2 p.438). Alsdorf has rightly observed on the basis of his studies in Asokan edicts and inscriptions, that the a him sa of Asoka shoud not be consid. ered Buddhist in character, it tends more towards vegetarianism. Neither the Buddhists nor the Jaina monks were vegetarians (see below Ch.4). Parallels to and origins of the vegetarianism of Asoka cannot be traced in any Buddhist texts, but in the dharma-sastras or in Kausalya's Sastra, which abound in the teaching of ahimsa ideal, and objections raised against blood. shed in sacrifices (cf. Alsdorf-2 pp.462-463). Similarly, the Jata ka gathas (including the ur-Dhamma-padas) are nonBuddhist in character. They teach the "folk-religion" of the time which influenced emperor Asoka's life, private and political. more than any other sects.
The Jataka stories also fail to provide us any clue to the problem of the holy-cow in Hinduism. The gå ha pati Jataka No.199 describes that on account of a severe famine in a village, the people living there casually got an old cow, killed it and subsisted on its flesh (gatha 2: mamsam jara ggavam ... /). Also some ancient works on Indian medicine prescribe beef against some diseases, e.g. Suśruta-Samhita ( satra-sthana Ch.46) says :