Madhuvidya

Author(s): S D Laddu, T N Dharmadhikari, Madhvi Kolhatkar, Pratibha Pingle
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 166

amsalá
317
part because fat is identical with sacrificial essence. This is as good as adding sacrificial essence to the animal since gudá is identified with paśú. We are further told that if the animal is amsalá, and not kļśá, no such addition is necessary, for, the animal itself in that case is supposed to be full of sacrificial essence. amsalá, therefore, clearly means 'full of, rich in, fat's. Sāyana is nearer to the correct interpretation of the word when he explains arsalah as puştangaḥ, although one may not be sure about his derivation of the word from arsa 'shoulder' which he indicates by the use of pravíddhāṁsaho. But Eggeling is not so good when he translates the above line as, "But if it be tender (juicyl, then it has itself obtained the sacrificial essence.”
amsalá thus primarily means 'full of fat', and secondarily denotes, through the Brahmanical identification of médas with médha, 'full of sacrificial essence'. Hence, when Yājñavalkya says that he has no objection to eating beef even during the dikṣā if it is full of fat (aṁsalá), he does so presumably because in his opinion the fat in the beef makes it full of sacrificial essence. The presence of médha in the beef is the 'ritually relevant quality' which renders it unobjectionable for him. As rightly observed by Alsdorf it is not proper to misunderstand Yājñavalkya and make fun of him by imagining that he was only fond of 'tender' beef.
A reference to the above peculiar Vājasaneya teaching regarding beef-eating is found also in the Dharmasūtras. In the Vasistha Dharmasūtra (14.45f.) we read: dhenvanaduhāv apannadantaś ca / bhakşyau tu dhenvanaduhau medhyau vājasaneyake vijñāyate. Bühler translates the passage as "Not milch-cows, draught-oxen, and animals whose milk teeth have not dropped out'. It is declared in the Vājasaneyaka that the flesh of) milch-cows and oxen is fit for offerings." As already noted by Alsdorf (p. 60), Bühler has inadvertently left out the word bhaksyau in his translation. Alsdorf next refers to J. J. Meyer's view who does not agree with Bühler's translation of medhyau as 'fit for offerings'. In Meyer's view, the word means 'magisch-rituell rein'. In the Ap.Dh.Sū. (1.5.17.30f.), where the same topic is dealt with, we find: dhenvanaduhor bhaksyam / medhyam anađuham iti Vājasaneyakam: "Fleisch von) Kuh und Ochs ist eßbar. (Elbar ist) opferreines Ochsenfleisch laut Vājasaneyaka". In the opinion of Alsdorf we have to understand the word medhya 5 In the Taitt. Sam. we find the use of the word sthavimat. In 6.4.1 we read jaghanārdhad áva dyati ... sthavimató 'va dyati "He cuts off from the hind portions, ... he cuts off from the thick side ..." (Keith). Also cf. Maitr. Sar. 3.10.4 where
sthavimat is contrasted with animat. . As for the etymology, perhaps it would be better to extrapolate *arsa 'fat'. 7 ALSDORF, op. cit., p. 56, foot-note 1. * ALSDORF, op. cit., pp. 59-60. i.e. their flesh should not be eaten.
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