INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

200 PREVENTIVE A}W
former Famines." It will be sufficient here tl)
give the substance of the decisions. The pundit.
of Pooree (the abode of Juggernauth), Cuttack
and Calcutta were consulted. In their replies,
opinion was unanimous that no act com·
mitted in order to save life occasions losof
caste; but the Cuttack pundits enjoin\:.:
the payment of a few annas, and the perfol"
mance of certain ceremonials, not because the
Shastras so directed, but because they deeme,'
it expedient. The others stated that n·
penance whatever was necessary (Kirkwood'.
The Calcutta pundits' reply to six questions OJ
the subject was: "At the critical conjunctur,
of a wide-spread famine, it is not considere.!
any sin to eat with a throng of others cooke"
rice provided by Government or the communit:.
at large. This is the declaration of the learned
pundits in general" Then follows their proof.
extracts from Manu, instancing several holy
men who, when in dire straits, had eaten dogs
and even cows'· flesh; but that they did nllt
• The cow is the sacred animal or the Hindoo ; and " cow',
flesh" i9 thel'efore intended to convey It. more emphatic ex
pression than our English word" beef" would do.