193 
1872.] Rajendralala Mitra — Beef in Ancient India. 
flesh meat purchased at the butchers’ stall was pure, and fit for consumption 
by pious Hindus. I have nowhere noticed that butchers were required, as 
among the Muhammadans, to observe any ceremonial rite before slaughtering 
animals, and am disposed to believe that none was observed, and that the 
only restriction was that the person purchasing meat for food had to offer 
a portion of it after dressing it to the gods, manes, guests, or beggars, which 
sufficed to accomplish a i/aj/ia. 
It is worthy of note here, that while killing of Brahmans, drinking of spi- 
rituous liquors by Br&hmans, stealing of gold belonging to Brahmans, defile- 
ment of the bed of spiritual preceptors, and association for a year with those 
who are guilty of the aforesaid four crimes, are reekonedby Ya jhavalkya among 
the most heinous crimes — MaMpMaJca, the mischievous killing of cattle is in- 
cluded among secondary or upapdtaka offences, and the expiation for it is 
comparatively slight. A Brahman guilty of drinking spirits cannot expiate 
his crime without suicide produced by a draft of molten metal, while a cow- 
killer is let off by Samvarta with a fortnight’s short-commons, consis- 
ting of barley -meal, milk, curds and butter, a feast to Brahmans and the gift 
of a cow.* Yajhavalkya is a little more exacting ; he insists upon drinking of 
the five products of the cow, panchagavya, following a cow as it roams about, 
sleeping in a cattle-shed regularly for a whole month, and ending with the 
gift of a cow, or a fine equal to the value of the animal destroyed.f He also 
recommends other forms of expiation, and his rival Smritik&ras have each 
his own scheme ; but none insists upon any thing approaching to suicide. 
The author of the Ndrasinhiya Prayoga Pdrijata has copied verbatim 
As'valayanas rule about the necessity of eating beef at the Madhuparka 
ceremony, but qualified it by a quotation from the A'ditya Purana which says 
that in the present Kali age the Madhuparka should be celebrated without 
slaughtering a cow. This quotation has been given at length both by IVtra- 
saraj and Hemadri and other compilers, and runs as follows : — “ Protracted 
Brahmacharya, carrying of the begging pot called Kamandalu, produc- 
tion of issue by a brother-in-law, gift of a daughter once already given 
away (widow marriage), marriage with gills of other than one’s own caste 
by the twice-born classes, killing of noble Brahmanas (versed in the Vedas) 
in fair warfare even if they come to the attack, entrance into the Vanaprastha 
* 'Start ' 
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J I suppose this is a compiler and not the author of the Sahhita, for the latter 
does not quote authorities in support of his rules and ordinances. 
