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THE MEMOIRS OF A CAT
blame the Hindus for sparing the cow her flesh in return for the perpetual slavery of her progeny. There was no ethical question involved. It was a matter of social nccessity. Slavery of man as well as of animals has been the foundation of all antique civilisation. There would be no Greck culture without the institution of slavery. There would be no Brahmanic wisdom without the Sudras. The only thing that any rcasonable person is likely to find objectionable, is the cffort of the modern Hindu intellectuals to rationalise the custom.
One of the post factum reasons advanced by the modern believer in the ancient cow-cult is humanitarianism. This reason is utterly unconvincing. Hinduism allows the sacrifice of all sorts of animals. Why should one he humane to one particular species? If the point is pressed, with insistence, in order to rationalise an antiquated institution, the noble sentiment of humanitarianism itself is discredited ; its utilitarian, that is, vulgar materialistic basis is laid bare. The cow was to be spared because she could be more useful as the producer of many beasts of burden than as food. Humanitarianism was invented for the purpose. Reason would not persuade the founders of the spiritualist Aryan culture to resist the lust for beef for the sake of common good. Therefore, there had to be a taboo with religious sanction. The modern Hindu would argue, that the sacrifice of other animals is not allowed by the original Scriptures.
