XPost: alt.fan.jai-maharaj, soc.culture.indian, alt.religion.hindu   
   XPost: alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian, alt.animals.rights.promotion,   
   soc.culture.usa   
      
   "But our ancient seers had it right when they"   
      
   The oldest vedic writings speak of eating animals, including beef, and of   
   animal sacrifice.  As nomadic herding tribal cultures this was of course   
   the most natural thing for them to do.   
      
   Even after the pety kingdoms as agriculture based cultures arose meat was   
   as usual.   
      
   Neither of the two great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the   
   Mahabharata teach vegetarianism and both often refer to eating meat   
   as if it were normal and uncontroversial, as indeed it was. In his   
   detailed study of everyday life as depicted in the Ramayana Ananda   
      
   The author goes on to detail the use of meat in that epic, not only used   
   but encouraged.   
      
   And here is the historical information to show the record about veggie only   
   eating is mostly of the last 1000 years only:   
      
   In the chapter on food the Sushruta Samhita (1st- 4th cent CE)   
   recommends all kinds of fish, bird and animal flesh showing that   
   meat eating was commonplace during that period. This and a great   
   deal of other evidence shows that like Buddhists, Hindus were for   
   centuries in two minds about vegetarianism. It was only after the   
   9th, 10th and 11th centuries that vegetarianism started to become   
   widespread in India.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)