Q: mArjArahatyA

[jayabarathi]

At 12:41 PM 9/10/97 BST, you wrote:
>At 01:21 AM 9/10/97 BST, Narayan Raja writes:
>>
        Dear members of the list,

                                Cat-slaughter is not only deemed a sin
        among the Hindus, but also among some other races as well.
                                Probably the original cause is shrouded
        in the mists of the remote past.
                                The Celts had a ceremony where cats were
        burned alive.
                                But the Ancient Egyptians held cats in
        very great reverance.They even mummified cats.
                                Black cats are said to be associated with
        witch-craft. This is not  a beleif, just confined to the the West alone.
                                Among the Malays of South East Asia,
        black cats are associated with black magic. The Malay sorceresses or
        female "bomohs", have black cats with them. There are some Malay 
        Black Magic rites which involve black cats.
                                To the Malays, the dog is taboo. But the cat 
        is a much endeared animal.They would'nt dream of killing a cat at all.
                                You may see Malay households feeding even 
        stray cats. There is hardly a family which does not have household
        cats.

        Yours

        Jayabarathi
        Malaysia



>
>>> >Further regarding the "sin of killing a cat" issue, the following 
>>
>>> >B [a certain Bapa Rao] says:
>>> >
>>> >> p.s. about the cats, I based my statement on my upbringing, which
>>> >> held that it was a special sin to kill cats, as opposed to the
>>> >> generic sin incurred by killing anything. No one around me
>>> >> particularly liked cats, it was just held sinful to kill one. Don't
>>> >> know much more about it, I'm afraid.
>>
>>
>>This must be quite a widespread belief, then.
>>I happen to know that Bapa Rao is Telugu, while,
>>as I recall, someone from Maharashtra also referred
>>to such a belief.  In my own family (we are Tamil),
>>my mother and grandmother warned me that if a cat 
>>"lost even one single hair" because of me, I would have 
>>to go to "narakam" (i.e., hell. but temporary).  Why 
>>cats in particular?  Don't know.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>
>>Raja.
>>
>
>Yes, killing of cat is believed to be a great sin almost equivalent to
>brahmahatya and there is a belief that such person's progeny will not
>survive if the sin is not atoned.
>
>sarma.
>
>
>