Caste in India: The Facts and the System c6.s6.4

c6.s6.4

Similarly, the precautions taken against food which may have been polluted by impure contact are completed by restrictions concerning the food itself. Every one knows the veneration in which Hindus hold the cow and their horror when they see its flesh eaten. Respect for all animal life is a trait which runs through the whole of India’s past. Buddhism and Jainism have developed it to extreme limits, and Brahmanism without being equally categorical is also deeply imbued with it. With the Buddhists as with the Hindus the use of spirituous liquors is likewise severely disapproved; it is regarded as a serious offence. It is evident also, both from certain persistent customs and from authorized texts, that certain foods are, although the reason escapes us, the objects of special disapproval:¹ for example, onions, garlic, and mushrooms. But there is frequent disagreement between local usages, and the same book often presents conflicting passages which obscure the true facts. Ancient practices have been and are still daily impaired by the effects of foreign example.² Any general assertion, therefore, is dangerous. Who would dare to say that modern Brahmans, even of high caste, abstain from meat, even with the exception authorized by the rule in favour of meats used in sacrifices or served at funeral feasts? We are assured that even now the use of fermented liquor forms a line of demarcation between the high and the low castes. How are we to know exactly where the dividing line is drawn in each region?