Aadishankaracharya’s Sanskrit commentary on controversial kandika 6/4/18 of Brihadaranyak Upanishad is often cited in favour of prescription of beef. Some contend that even Shankara has accepted the partaking of rice cooked with beef for a couple desirous of begetting progeny well versed in Vedas. The actual words of the commentary are:

मांसमिश्रमौदन मानसौदनम्। तन्मान्स्नियमार्थमाह-औक्षेण वा मानसेन।उक्षा सेचनमर्थः पुन्गवस्तदीयं मांसम्।ऋषभस्ततोsप्तधिक वयास्तदीयमार्षभं मांसम्।

The meaning:

“Cooked rice mixed with mamsa is mansodana. The mansa is further specified as, that of ukshaa, ukshaa is a pungava potent of impregnation, or that of a rishabha of vayas exceeding that of ukshaa”

This is the literal meaning. Adishankaracharya has not clarified whether it is the meat of the animal or whether it is mamsa i.e. the fleshy part of a medicinal fruit/plant. In such a situation it has to be considered in light of context, whether it has to be meat of animal or fleshy part of a medicinal fruit/plant. This will be clear by considering the significance of sechan-samathah-pungavah and of ‘a rishabh of vayas exceeding that of ukshaa’. There is no difference of opinion about the meaning of sechan-samathah which is potent of impregnation. The meaning of the words ukshaa,pungavah, rishabh, and vayas have to be considered.

Meanings of Ukshaa as per Sanskrit-English Dictionary compiled by Moneir-Williams:

(1)    A bull(as impregnating the flock)

(2)    Name of Soma(as sprinkling or scattering small drops)

(3)    One of the eight chief medicines(rishabha)

Meaning of Rishabha:

(1)    A bull(as impregnating the flock)

(2)    A  kind of medicinal plant(shushruta,bhava-prakasha)

(3)    Carpopogons prureins (Charaka)

Just as in English the word ‘flesh’, besides meaning the muscular tissues of animal, also meaning the ‘soft pulpy part of fruit and vegetable’ and the word ‘meat’, besides meaning ‘flesh of an animal’, also means ‘anything eaten for nourishment’, the Sanskrit word mamsa also means ‘soft pulpy part of fruit’(readers can consult any dictionary). Similarly the peel is called the skin, the hard part is called the bone and the fibres are called ligaments or nerves.

There are several words in Sanskrit that may mean a particular animal or their body parts but primarily are names of medicinal plants. For example ajakarna-­ plant whose leaves resembles ear of goat (terminalia alata tomentosa)

Aukshena va rishabhena va

So the above verse stands for ‘either ukshaa or rishabha’

Both words if interpreted as animals refers to a bull and ukshaa does not means a calf as per the dictionaries. As such ukshaa and rishabha must be two different things. Hence by the conjunction of ‘either’ and ‘or’, these two words cannot mean the same i.e. a bull potent of impregnation. By adding the conjunction of ‘either’ and ‘or’ the seer of the mantra has intended two different things. Therefore ‘ukshaa’ refers to ‘soma’ and ‘rishabha’ refers to a medicinal plant as described in Charaka Samahita, Shushrut-Samahita and Bhava-Prakash

In Charaka-Samahita vol.1, chapter IV, 13, the first mahakashaya consisting of 10 medicines among which ‘rishabha’ is one is terned as ‘jivaniya’ or energy-increasing.

In the 38th chapter of sutra-sthana of Shushruta-Samhita, which is named as dravya-sangrahniiya, rishabhaka is one of several stems.

 In Bhava-prakash, purna-khand ‘rishabhaka’ is one of the eight medicaments. Among the various qualities of asta-varga, the most important are: brahna aphrodisiac; shukra-janaka semen-producing; and bala-vardhaka-tonic.

It is further mentioned there that the rishabha medicine is found in Himalayan peaks and it is shaped like the horns of a bull.

From several references quoted above as well as from verses 1,14,15,16 and 17 of the same chapter of Brihadaranyak Upnishad, it is simply clear that the ‘ukshaa’ and ‘rishabha’   in verse 18 could mean only medicinal plants referred to in Ayurvedic Texts.

The meaning of pungava are given by Monier-Williams in his Sanskrit-English dictionary as:

“a bull, a hero, eminent person, chief, a kind of drug”

The meaning of sechan-samarthah pungavah can be:

(1)    A stud bull potent in impregnation

(2)    A hero potent of impregnation

(3)    An eminent person potent in impregnation

(4)    A chief potent in impregnation

(5)    A kind of drug potent in impregnation

 

A herb that is potent of impregnation is called vajikarana or aphrodisiac in Ayurveda. Soma  is also an aphrodisiac herb. Now, readers should themselves consider which of these five meaning mentioned above will be more appropriate and in accordance with usksha sechan-samarthah.

The meaning of tatah api adhika vayah is ‘one exceeding the vayas than that’. The base of vayah is vayas. The meanings of the word vayas are given as under in Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary:

(1)    Enjoyment,food, meal, oblation

(2)    Energy(both bodily and mental),strength,halth,vigour,power,might

(3)    More invigorating than that

Accordingly tatah api adhika-vayah will mean:

(1)    More enjoyable than that

(2)    More energetic than that

(3)    More invigorating than that

If we take it as the flesh of bovine bull here, potent of impregnation the meaning of rishabha tatah api adhika-vayah will be ‘the bovine rishabha capable of who is older in age than the ukshaa capable of impregnating the bovine species. But in reality the age of impregnation is growing youth and not advancing age.

In none of the dictionaries we find that the word ukshsaa means ‘a studbull of younger age potent of impregnation’ and rishabha means ‘a studbull of older age potent of impregnation’.

Taking the context into account, rishabh tatah api adhika-vayah will mean, ‘a medicine of astavarga called rishabha which is more invigorating even than the soma juice. This medicine is often prescribed by the Ayurvedic Practitioners for frequent use by the rich to keep the sexual powers undiminished. The medicines of astavarga are aphrodisiac which increases semen.

The prescription of beef is impossible because the bovine species is declared as inviolable in Vedas. There is no mention of meat in this section from its very first kandika among the items which ultimately result in purest satvika semen. And only the purest and healthy satvika semen is required for a progeny proficient in Vedas.

If, in the mansodana, the meat of a bull of any age potent of impregnation had been intended then in the upnishad the wordings would have been govansha ukshaa and govansha rishabh and Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya to make it clear beyond doubt that the meat of the studbull is intended would also have written sechan samarthah govansh-pungavah tadiyam mansam.

The use of conjunction ‘va …………va’ i.e. ‘either……….or’ itself indicates that ukshaa and rishabha are not same and distinctly different. Therefore it is impossible that a highly learned personality like Adi Shankaracharya would interpret as a tautology the words ukshaa and rishabha  signifying ‘a studbull as long as it is potent of impregnation’, when the contradistinctive conjunction ‘either………or’ is used to constrast the word ukshaa and rishabha. It is certain that ukshaa sechan samartha pungavah as used in the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya means aphrdasiac drugs, ukshaa and rishabha of astavarga.