History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c40.76.3

v3.c40.76.3

46-55 Manu takes up the position of total abstention from killing animals even in sacrifices (they are the same as Viṣṇu Dh. S. 51. 69-78). In one verse (V. 48 which is the same as Vas. Dh. S. IV. 7) Manu says that no flesh can be had without killing living beings and killing such beings cannot lead to heaven; therefore one should give up flesh. Verses 53 and 56 are very important as they convey that the merit of him who performs a horse-sacrifice every year for a hundred years and of him who does not partake of flesh (throughout life) is equal and that the word *māṁsa* (flesh) is derived by the wise (from ‘mām’ and ‘saḥ’) as meaning ‘he whose flesh I eat to day will devour me in the next world or birth.’ Yāj. I. 181 is just like Manu V. 53. Manu winds up the whole discussion (in V. 56) by stating that natural appetites lead men on to eat flesh or to drink wine or to indulge in sexual gratification and there is no sin in indulging in these when they are allowed by the *śāstra* in the case of certain persons and on certain occasions; but abstention in these matters (even on occasions when they are permitted by the *śāstras*) leads to great rewards.¹⁸⁶⁵ From these passages in Manu, Viṣṇu and Vas.