December 18, 2024 at 1:52 pm
#52928
Keymaster
Yes. “gomayaṁ khipanti” means “pelting with cow-dung. See “Gomayapiṇḍa Sutta (SN 22.96).”
- However, it does not mean they pelted someone with cow dung to show displeasure in those early days. Cows were not on Earth in those early days. We don’t even know whether they had “dirt/mud” then.
- But the idea is that they were pelted with undesired things available at that time to displeasure for their “lowly deed,” i.e., sexual activity.
Taryal wrote: “And even today people in some countries, when carrying a bride off, pelt her with dirt, clods, or cow-dung.”
- In many other countries, it is customary to throw flowers (or rice or even money) at the bride (or the couple).
- Both those traditions may have evolved from “pelting undesirable things at those caught having sexual relations to show displeasure.”