Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s37.28

c11.s37.28

³ Evidently other bulls and cows are not included in the protected list : all cows and bulls are so included in the *Arthaśāstra* which lays down : *Vatso vṛṣo dhenuścaīṣām avadhyāḥ ghnataḥ pañcāśatko daṇḍaḥ, kliṣṭaghātam ghātayataśca* i.e. calves, bulls and cows shall not be slaughtered. Whoever kills them or causes them to be killed with torture shall be fined fifty Paṇas'. Opinion on beef-eating was apparently in a fluid state in the Mauryan epoch, and while the *Arthaśāstra* forbids it, Aśoka's edict does not appear to do so. See also Hultzsch p. 127, n. 8, and Smith's *Aśoka* 3 pp. 206-7.