1 THE ANCIENT HINDUS. 31
2 recourse “ for the food of the pious.” The Vedas enjoined the ceremony called
3 gomedha, or the sacrifice of cattle, and reference to such sacrifice is made
4 in the Mahdbhdrata and Ramdyana.* At the entertainment given to sages
5 and friends, a heifer and a cow were slaughtered and the guest was, on
6 this account, called goghna, or “ cow-killer.” Professor Colebrook observes,
7 in the Asiatic Researches, that “a guest entitled to honourable reception is
8 a spiritual preceptor, a priest, an ascetic, a prince, a bridegroom, a friend,
9 or, in short, any one to welcome whose arrival a cow must be tied, for
10 the purpose of slaying her; whence a guest is denominated goghna, or
11 cow-killer.”” In ancient Hindu medical works, such as the Charaka
12 Sanhita, which dates from about the fifth or sixth century Bc. beef is
13 recommended for*a woman that is enceinte. In the chapter on food in
14 this work, the author recommends that the flesh of cows, buffaloes and
15 hogs should not be eaten daily. This clearly shows that beef was then
16 used as an article of food, though it was considered too rich to be used
17 every day. Fish, curds and barley cakes are likewise prohibited for every-
18 day use. The ceremony of sacrificing a cow was called gava mayana.
19 The Aryan settlers of India were a spirit-drinking race and indulged
20 freely in soma beer and wine or spirit. Sages and saints drank the sweet
21 fermented juice of the soma (the haoma of Iran) and made an offering
22 of it to the gods. The soma is a plant peculiar to the mountains west
23 of India and the Bolan Pass. The wine made from it was of most ancient
24 origin; the Aryas offered it to the spirits of the sky, even before they
25 had set foot on the land of the Indus. It was an exhilarating liquor, most
26 acceptable to the gods. The soma is described in the Vedas as having
27 been brought from the summit of the hills by a tamed falcon. Its heal-
28 ing qualities are praised; it was believed to prolong life, and it inspired
29 the sacred songs of the minstrels.
30 Like the ancient Aryans of Iran, the Aryans of India buried their
31 dead. The bow, the symbol of honour, bravery and lordship, was taken
32 out of the hand of the corpse and a wall of separation erected between
33 it and the circle of relations and friends present at the burial. “We here
34 aud thou there,” said the living; “we set this wall of separation for those
35 who live, that no one may hasten to that goal; they must cover death
36 with this rock and live a hundred autumns.” Among the fire-worshippers
37 of Iran the custom of burial gave way to the exposure of dead bodies on
38 the mountains, and in the “towers of silence,” where they became a prey to
39 the birds. The modern Hindus of India burn their dead.
40 CHAPTER. V.
41 THE ANCIENT HINDUS.
42 eae the Aryaus had migrated into the regions of the Yamuna (Jumna) and
43 the Ganges, they colonized extensive districts and founded large cities in
44 their newly acquired territory. The period of their immigration into
45 that fertile country is fixed at about 1500 Bc. It brought with it more
46 arduous tasks than had occupied the Vedic heroes in the land of the Panjab.
47 They not only had to contend against the old population, but they also
48 became involved in wars, among themselves, for the acquisition of the best
49 GP ks ee ee ee ee ee se ee
50 * I presume the sacrifice of cows by the ancient Aryans before their gods was due to the
51 sanctity in which that animal was held.
52 The sacrifice of the
53 cow.
54 The Aryans were a
55 spirit-drinking race.
56 The soma tree.
57 Its description in
58 the Vedas.
59 The burial cere-
60 monies of the
61 ancient Aryans.
62 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh J i eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com