Note 75 — Chapter IV · ANIMAL-WORSHIP.
Reading edition
The evidence that cows were freely slaughtered in ancient times could be largely extended. It is laid down in the early laws that the meat of milch cows and oxen may be eaten, and a guest is called a Goghna or “cow-killer,” because a cow was killed for his entertainment.75 In the Grihya Sûtra we have a description of the sacrifice of an ox to Kshetrapati, “the lord of the fields.” In another ancient ritual the sacrifice of a cow is stated to be very similar to that of the Satî, and, according to an early legend, kine were created from Parusha, the primal male, and are to be eaten as they were formed from the receptacle of food.76