Questions in the Sacred-Cow Controversy [and Comments and Reply]

Simoons, Frederick J.; Batra, Sunaina; Chakravarti, A. N.; Diener, Paul; Ferro-Luzzi, Gabriella Eichinger; Harris, Marvin; Heston, Alan; Hoffpauir, Robert; Lodrick, Deryck O.; Malik, Saira; Mey, Wolfgang; Mishra, Saurabh; Odend'hal, Stewart; Palmieri, Richard P.; Pimentel, David; Robkin, Eugene E.; Schwabe, Calvin W.; Schwartzberg, Joseph E.; Suryanarayana, M. H.; Wagner, Philip L.

doi:10.1086/202319

Cited by 41 publications

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“…16 Marvin Harris's reductionist assessment that technoenvironmental pressures led to cow protection in India has generated a great deal of controversy. Those interested in this debate can consult Simoons (1979). A more contemporary (and politically contentious) challenge to bovine sacrality has come from historian Dwijendra Narayan Jha, whose The Myth of the Holy Cow (2002) engages assumptions regarding the Hindu diet by exploring beef-eating in ancient Indian texts.…”

Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hindu Traditions and Nature: Survey Article

Horn¹

2006

Worldviews

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The scholarly investigation of the convergences between Hindu traditions and the natural world is a relatively recent endeavor, having arisen in the wake of similar projects seeking to identify the intersections between religion, culture, and nature. Partly a response to present and looming environmental threats, this effort has resulted in a wide range of material, from a more general "environmental assessment" of the tradition(s) in question to specific inquiries about the social, economic, and demographic factors that impinge upon contemporary Indians' understandings of nature. This literature review provides an overview of these materials and should offer readers a sense of the topics that have received the most attention from scholars to date.

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Section: Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hindu Traditions and Nature: Survey Article

Horn¹

2006

Worldviews

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“…of India 1977; 44 000 yaks and mithuns not included). Generally, the Indian cattle are considered to be of poor quality, uneconomical and a burden on land; and it is suggested that a large number of cattle may be slaughtered for beef but for their religious significance to the Hindu majority (Simoons 1979). According to some observers, possibly as many as one-third to one-half of the Indian cattle population may be regarded as surplus; and the crucial problem is what should be done with such cattle when the cows are non-productive and the bullocks are over age for use as draft animals (Ravenholt 1966).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This interdependence between subsistence farming and cattle led Marvin Harris (1966) to argue that a relatively high ratio of cattle to humans as ecologically unavoidable. His writings have contributed to protracted controversy for almost two decades (see, for example, Heston 1971;Simoons 1979;Freed and Freed 1981). Harris's paper has drawn attention to examining the economic significance and function of the holy cow in India.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Question of Surplus Cattle in India: A Spatial View

Chakravarti¹

1985

Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography

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“…He argues, &dquo;My intention is to argue that explanation of taboos, customs, and rituals associated with management of cattle be sought in positive functioned and probably the adaptive process of the ecological system of which they are a part rather than in the influence of Hindu theology&dquo; (1966: 51). A large number of social scientists have opposed Harris's techno-environmental interpretation of the sacred-the cow ideology in India (Dandekar: 1964), Heston (1971), Mishra (1973;1978), Simoons (1979), Lodrick (1979), and Freed and Freed (1981). The negative functioned traits of the religious proscriptions against the slaughter of cattle have been used as evidence to argue that religious beliefs rather than technoenvironmental adaptation influence behaviour towards the the cow in India.…”

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The Sacredness of the Cow in India

Batra¹

1986

Social Compass

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Cet article traite d'un aspect souvent négligé par les études consacrées au caractère sacré de la vache en Inde. Ces études, souvent polémiques, se sont préoccupées d'aspects techniques et environnementaux et n'ont pratiquement rien apporté quant & a g r a v e ; la compréhension de la logique culturelle contenue dans le caractère sacré de cet animal.Basé sur I 'étude de textes sacrés, sur des observations empiriques dans le Nord du Pays et sur des travaux d'anthropologues dans d'autres régions, cet article jette une lumière sur le caractère sacré de la vache dans l'Inde ancienne, sur les processus historiques qui ont abouti & a g r a v e ; l'émergence des tabous concernant la consommation du boeuf, sur les mythes et rites qui accompagnent ce phénomène, sur ses significations culturelles dans la société indienne. L'auteur estime que l'interprétation métaphorique technico-environnementale de Harris & a g r a v e ; propos du caractère sacré de la vache ne rend pas compte de manière adéquate du maintien de ce modèle culturel en Inde. L'idéologie religieuse indienne explique mieux cette persistance car la sacralité de la vache est un reflet d'actes symboliques ayant un caractère expressif et une fin en soi qui dépassent les simples considérations rationnelles. Social Compass, XXXIII/2-3, 1986, 163-175 The the cow is held in great reverence by the Hindus. She occupies a place closer to the divines and there is hardly any temple where the the cow does not figure prominently. The concept of sacredness of the cow is deeply ingrained in the thoughts, feelings, and aspirations of Hindus so much so that her protection and care is considered as a religious duty. There is a strong abhorrance for killing and eating the flesh of a the cow. They have become so inviolable that in big cities they wander unmolested through the busiest traffic. Even a bull that gores a man to death may not be touched. The mere slaughter of a the cow has led to many communal riots during the pre as well as postIndependence period leading to a loss of several human lives and valuable property in India (Batra: 1972; 1981a).

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Questions in the Sacred-Cow Controversy [and Comments and Reply]

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Hindu Traditions and Nature: Survey Article

Hindu Traditions and Nature: Survey Article

The Question of Surplus Cattle in India: A Spatial View

The Sacredness of the Cow in India

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