Vol. 4 · pages 121–125

110 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The Yajur-Veda says : “Oh, Deva Soma ! being strengthened and invigorated by Sura (wine), by thy pure spirit, please the Devas ; give juicy food to the sacrificer and vigour to Brahmanas and Kshatriyas.” The Mantra Brahmana says : “By which women have been made enjoyable by men, and by which water has been transformed into wine (for the enjoyment of men),” etc. That Rama and Sita both drank wine is admitted by the Ramayana. Uttar Khand says : “Like Indra in the case (of his wife) Shachi, Ramachandra saw that Sita drank purified honey called wine. Servants brought for Ramahandra meat and sweet fruit. So did Krishna and Arjuna. The Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata says : “Arjuna and Shrikrishna drinking wine made from honey and being sweet-scented and garlanded, wearing splendid clothes and ornaments, sat on a golden throne studded with various jewels. I saw Shrikrishna’s feet on Arjuna’s lap, and Arjuna’s feet on Draupadi and Satyabhama’s lap.” The greatest change that has taken place is in the diet. The present day Hindus are very particular about their diet. There are twofold limitations on commensality. A Hindu will not eat food cooked by a NonHindu. A Hindu will not eat food cooked even by a Hindu unless he is a Brahmin or a man of his caste. The Hindu is not only particular on the question of whose food he should eat, he is also particular to what he should eat. From the point of view of diet Hindus may be divided into two main classes. (1) Those who are vegetarians. (2) Those who are non-vegetarians. The non-vegetarians again fall into several sub-divisions : Those who will eat all kinds of flesh and fish. Those who will eat only fish. Those who will eat flesh are sub-divided into following categories : ( i) Those who will eat the flesh of any animal except the cow. (ii) Those who will eat the flesh of any animal including that of the cow. (iii) Those who will eat flesh but not of a cow (whether dead or slaughtered) nor of chicken. Classifying the Hindu Population from the point of view of its diet the Brahmins are divided into two classes (1) Pancha Gauda and (2) Panch Dravida.

111RIDDLE NO. 13 Of these Panch Dravida are completely vegetarian. The Panch Gauda’s with the exception of one section namely Gauda Saraswatas are also completely vegetarian. The Untouchables who are at the other end of the Hindu Society are non-vegetarian. They eat meat, not merely of goats and fowls but also of the cow irrespective whether it is dead or slaughtered. The Non-Brahmins who are midway between the Brahmins and the Untouchables have different ways. Some like the Brahmins are Vegetarians. The rest unlike the Brahmins are non-vegetarians. All of them are alike in one thing namely that all of them are opposed to eating the cow’s flesh. There is one other aspect of the question which needs to be mentioned. It is the question of killing an animal for purposes of food. On this the Hindu mind is more or less united. No Hindu will kill an animal not even for food. Except for a small caste known as Khatiks there are no butchers among the Hindus. Even the Untouchables will not kill. He eats the flesh of a dead cow. But he will not kill a cow. In India today the butcher is a Musalman and any Hindu who wants to kill an animal for his food has to seek the services of a Musalman. Every Hindu believes in Ahimsa. Since when did vegetarianism come into India ? When did Ahimsa become an established belief ? There are Hindus who do not understand the propriety of this question. They hold that vegetarianism and Ahimsa are not new things in India. The evidence in support of the contention that the ancient Aryans the ancestors of present-day Hindus were not only meat-eaters but. beef-eaters is really overwhelming. As evidences in support of this view it is enough to draw attention to the following facts : They are quite indisputable. Take the case of Madhuparka. Among the ancient Aryans there was well established procedure of reception to be given to a guest which is known as Madhuparka the detailed descriptions regarding which will be found in the various Grihya Sutras. According to most of the Grihya Sutras there are six persons who deserve Madhuparka. Namely (1) Ritvij or the Brahmin called to perform a sacrifice, (2) Acharya, the teacher, (3) the Bridegroom, (4) The King, (5) The Snatak, the student who has just finished his studies at the Gurukul and (6) Any person who is dear to the host. Some add Atithi to this list. Except in the case of the Ritvij, King and Acharya, Madhuparka is to be offered to the rest once in a year. To the Ritvij, King and Acharya it is to be offered each time they come. The procedure consisted first in washing by the host the feet of his guest, then the offer of the Madhuparka and the drinking of it by the quest accompanied by certain Mantras.

112 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES What were the components of the Madhuparka ? Madhuparka literally means a ceremony in which honey is shed or poured on the hand of a person. This is what Madhuparka was in its beginning. But in course its ingredients grew and included much more than honey. At one time it included three ingredients—curds honey and butter. There was a time when it was made of five things curds, honey, ghee, yava and barley. Then it came to be a mixture of nine items. The Kausika Sutra speaks of nine kinds of mixtures, viz. Brahma (honey and curds), Aindra (of payasa), Saumya (curds and ghee), Mausala (saine and ghee, this being used only in Sautramani and Rajasuya sacrifices), Varuna (water and ghee). Sravana (sesame oil and ghee). Parivrajaka (sesame oil and oil cake). Then we come to the time of the Manava Grahya Sutra which says that the Veda declares that the Madhuparka must not be without flesh and so it recommends that if the cow is let loose, goat’s meat or payasa (rice cooked in milk) may be offered ; The Hir gr. i. 13.14 says that other meat should be offered ; Baud. gr. says (1.2.51-54) that when the cow is let off. the flesh of a goat or ram may be offered or some forest flesh (of a deer & c.,) may be offered, as there can be no Madhuparka without flesh or if one is unable to offer flesh one may cook ground grains. But in the final stage flesh became the most essential part of Madhuparka. In fact some of the Grihya Sutras go to the length of saying that there can be no Madhuparka without flesh. This they base upon an express injunction contained in the Rig-Veda ( VIII. 101.5) which says “Let the Madhuparka not be without flesh”. Flesh eating was thus quite common. From the Brahmins to the Shudras everybody ate meat. In the Dharmasutras numerous rules are given about the flesh of beasts and birds and about fishes. Gaut. 17.2731. Ap. Dh. S. 1.5.17.35 Vas. Dh. S. 14.39-40. Yaj. I. 177. Vishnu Dh. S. 51.6. Sankha (quoted by Apararka p. 1167). Ramayana (Kiskindha 17.39). Markendey Purana (35.2-4) prescribe that one should avoid the flesh of all five-nailed animals except of porcupine, hare, svavidh (a boar of hedgehog), iguana, rhinoceros and tortoise (some of these works omit the rhinoceros). Gautama adds that one should also avoid the flesh of all animals with two rows of teeth in the two jaws, of hairy animals, of hairless animals (like snakes), of village cocks and hogs and of cows and bulls. Ap. Dh. S. 1.5.17. 29-31 first forbids the flesh of animals with one hoof only, of camels, of gavaya (Gayal), of the village hog, of the sarabha and of cows, but adds the exception that the flesh, of milch cows and of bulls may be eaten as the Vajasaneyaka declares the flesh of these to be pure. Ap. Dh. S. (II.2.5.15) forbids the use of flesh to a teacher of the Veda in the (INCOMPLETE. FURTHER TEXT MISSING) zz

RIDDLE NO. 14 FROM AHIMSA BACK TO HIMSA “From Himsa to Ahimsa” is only a part of the story of Ahimsa. There is another part of the story which can only be described, under the heading “From Ahimsa back to Himsa”. The second part of the story will be clear if only one were to note the religious practices of the Tantras and Tantraism to which a reference has already been made. The essentials of Tantrik worship are the five Makars. These five Makars consists of: 1. The drinking of wine and liquors of various kinds ... (Madya); 2. The eating of meat …………………………………....... (Mansa); 3. The eating of fish …………………………......……….. (Matsya); 4. The eating of parched or fried grain ……….………. (Mudra); 5. The sexual union ……………………………...…….. (Maithuna). It is unnecessary to say at this stage anything about Maithuna or Sexual intercourse having been made an element of religious worship. It is sufficient to take note of Madya and Mansa. With regard to the first four of these acts the Tantras prescribe twelve sorts of liquors, three sorts of wine, and three sorts of meat. Pulastya, one of the ancient sages who is the supposed author of certain law-books, also enumerates twelve kinds of liquors, as follows: “1. Liquor extracted from the bread fruit (panasa), called Jack-liquor; 2. From grapes (draksha); 3. From date-palm (kharjuri); 4. From common palm (tali), or toddy: 5. From coconut (narikela); 6. From sugarcane (ikshu); 7. From Madhavika plant; The chapter seems to be a continuation of the previous chapter on ‘Ahimsa’. There are six typed pages with few corrections and having the title written by the author himself- Ed.

114 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 8. Long-pepper liquor (saira); 9. Soap-berry liquor (arishta); 10. Honey-liquor (madhuka); 11. A kind of rum or liquor prepared from molasses, etc. (called Gaudi, or sometimes Maireya); 12. Arrack, or liquor prepared from rice and other grain (sura or Varuni, or paishti). Besides the above twelve kinds of spirituous drink others are frequently mentioned, for example, Tanka, made from wood-apple, Koli, made from the jujbe; and Kadambari; the last being the favourite beverage of Bala-Rama. The meat may be that of birds, beasts, or fish. The parched grain is eaten, like dry biscuit, as a relish with the wine and spirituous liquors. The drinking of each kind of drink is supposed to be attended with its own peculiar merit and advantage. Thus one liquor gives salvation, another learning, another power, another wealth, another destroys enemies, another cures diseases, another removes sin, another purifies the soul.” The Tantrik worship had gone deep into Bengal. Referring to his own experience Rajendra Lal Mitra says 1: “I knew a highly respectable widow lady, connected with one of the most distinguished families in Calcutta, who belonged to the Kaula sect, and had survived the 75th birthday, who never said her prayers (and she did so regularly every morning and evening) without touching the point of her tongue with a tooth-pick dipped in a phial of arrack, and sprinkling a few drops of the liquor on the flowers which she offered to her god. I doubt very much if she had ever drunk a wine-glassful of arrack at once in all her life, and certain it is that she never had any idea of the pleasures of drinking; but, as a faithful Kaula, she felt herself in duty-bound to observe the mandates of her religion with the greatest scrupulousness. That thousands of others do so, I have every reason to believe. In some parts of Bengal, where arrack is not easily accessible, such female votaries prepare a substitute by dropping the milk of a coconut in a bell-metal pot, or milk in a copper vessel, and drink a few drops of the same. Men are, however, not so abstemious, and the Tantras ordain a daily allowance of five cupsful, the cup being so made as to contain five tolas, or two ounces, i.e. they are permitted to take ten ounces or about a pint of arrack daily”. This Tantrik worship was not confined to the small corner of Bengal. As is pointed out by Mahamahopadhyaya Jadaveshwara Tarkaratna 2: 1 Rajendralal Mitra — Indo-Aryans Vol. pp. 405-6. 2 Quoted by Avalon in his principles of Tantra Part-I. Introduction p. XXXVIII.