Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c9.s17: Meat-Eating

Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c9.s17

Language
English

Meat-Eating

c9.s17.1

Like wine-drinking, flesh-eating was also prevalent in those days. Under various occupations we have studied the busy life of the hunters, the fowlers, the butchers and the fishermen who used to supply various kinds of meat and fish from which many kinds of curry and soup were prepared. Meat was prepared by frying (taliya), roasting (bhajjiya) drying (parisukka) and salting (lavaṇa) in various ways.⁴⁶ Mention has been made of a royal cook who prepared varieties of meat dishes and brought them to the royal table. The Sūryapannatti mentions that by eating flesh of a cāsaya, deer, tiger, frog, animals with claws, and water animal in particular constellations, success is achieved.⁴⁷ The saṅkhaḍis or special festivals are mentioned, where a large number of animals were killed and their flesh was served to the guests. It is stated that a monk or nun should not resolve to go to a festival when they knew that they would be served up chiefly with meat or fish or roasted slices of meat or fish.⁴⁸

c9.s17.2

⁴⁶ Vivā 2, p 14; 3. p 22 Other preparation of meat were saṅkhaṇḍya, vaṭlakhaṇḍya, dihakhaṇḍya, rahassakhaṇḍya, humapakka, jjamapakka, vegapakka, māruyapakka, kāla, heraṅga, mahittha, etc, ibid. p 46.

c9.s17.3

⁴⁷ Su 51, p. 151.

c9.s17.4

⁴⁸ Ācā II, 1.4, 245.

c9.s17.5

We learn from the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra that, when Ariṭṭhanemi was going for his marriage, he saw a herd of cattle which was to be slaughtered in order to feed the marriage party. Ariṭṭhanemi, however, felt disgusted and renounced the world.⁴⁹ We are told of Revai that her servants used to kill two calves every day from the herds that belonged to her ancestral property and bring to her. This shows that flesh-eating was common in early society.⁵⁰

c9.s17.6

⁴⁹ 22. 14 ff.

c9.s17.7

⁵⁰ Uvā. 8, p. 63; for references to flesh-eating in the Vedic literature, see Vedic Index, II, p. 145.

Linked texts (5)