The irony is that, as a commentator on the Dharmashastras points out, though the cow was sacred in Vedic times, it was this that allowed for beef to be consumed. 155. There are references in the Rig Veda, in the Dharmashastric literature, the Taittiriya Brahmana (‘Verily, the cow is food’) and the Vajasaneyi Samhita that support the contention of beef being eaten at the time.156 The historian D. N. Jha has pointed out dozens of examples to prove that the Rig Veda is full of allusions to the slaughter and consumption of cows. Ancient lawgivers, Manu included, appear to grant sanction for the
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