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Lord Mahavira and His Times
and fish. There were butchers1 who earned their livelihood by killing various animals in the slaughter-houses and by supplying their meat to the people. The flesh of goat, pig, sheep, and deer was much used. In certain sections of society and on special occasions, cows and oxen were also slaughtered, but the tendency to revere the cow and to spare the useful bull was gaining ground. The Jataka stories mention pigeons,2 geese3, herons, peacocks, crows and cocks as eatables. A large number of people cherished fish diet. Meat and fish were carried in carts to the towns and cities where they were sold in the open market.
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Meat and fish were important items of diet in the royal kitchen. On festival days and on occasions of marriage, meat was lavishly consumed. Even from the Jātakas we know that the Brāhmaṇas relished meat and fish with great delight. They are nonvegetarian diet on sacrificial occasions10 and on the occasion of the Śraddha ceremony.11 A guest was also served with meat so that the fruits of the merit of honouring him could be reaped.12 It seems that the custom of meateating was so common that the Buddha did not prohibit it, except for the Bhikshus, who could accept it only in alms and could not procure it otherwise. In the Mahāparinibbāna-suttanta, the Buddha himself is described as eating pig-meat (Sūkaramaddava),1 ,13 and in a Jātaka story, he is found cherishing cooked meat at the house of a householder.14
This widespread practice of meateating during this period 1. Majjh, I. 364; II. 193; KS, 11. 170-11; KS, II. 171; G.S, I. 229, KS, II. 171.
2. Romaka Jā, (No. 277).
3. Punnandi Jā, (No. 214).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ja, II. 412.
8. Mamsa Jā, (No. 315). 9. Ibid, I 242.
10. Ibid, III. 429.
11. Ibid, I. 166 (No. 18).
12. Ap. Dh. S. 11. 3. 7. 4.
13. Digha, II. 127; Udana, VIII. 5. 14. Ja, II. 282.
