Expert: William Schindler, a.k.a. Brother William - 7/17/2006

Question
I want to know where it has been written or mentioned or how had it been made into a law that eating Beef is forbidden in Hinduism ?
I have been eating beef since last 20 years.Initially it started as a rebellion then gradually I started to love the taste and now is  one my favorite meat.Lot of my Hindu Brahmin friends are beef lovers. I am 34 and am a Hindu Vaishnava but I don't practice it(as I  believe that practicing good deeds are much superior than practising  some non-sensical customs and rites).So,does eating Beef means I am no more a Hindu according to some text or whatever ? I know lot of urban Hindus do eat beef and we didn't care when we were bachelors.Now I am worried for my children ? Is there any law against eating beef by a hindu ?  

Answer
Dear Rajiv,

Thank you for your question.

Hindu dietary laws are not, properly speaking, a part of religion, and there is nothing in Vedanta philosophy that favors one kind of food over another. Hindu social custom, however, has banned beef for centuries, considering the cow a pet animal more useful alive than dead. Just as most Americans would consider eating their pet dogs a horrible idea, even though dogs are perfectly edible as some east asian culture know, most Hindus raised in a traditional way in India consider eating beef a horrible idea.

In Vedic times Hindus did eat beef. It was considered mandatory for kings to serve beef to their most honored guests. Beef eating was also thought to stimulate sexual passion, so eating beef was advised for those wishing to conceive children.

Non-ethnic Hindus, or Hindus by choice, often retain the dietary customs of their home country, so many American Hindus eat beef as their parents did before them. As a parent you might consider how other ethnic Hindus might view beef eating on the part of your children, but you do not lose your religion by eating or not eating any given food. You and your children would likely be banned from entering some orthodox Vaishnava temples if it were known to the priests that you eat meat of any kind, what to speak of beef.

Swami Vivekananda criticized Hindus for what he called "kitchen religion," obsessive concern with what to eat and not to eat and with whom and in what setting. Real religion is about realizing God/Self through meditation, prayer, worship, reason, and dedicated action. If eating beef gives you the energy to do spiritual practice, more power to you.

Best wishes,

Br. William