The Mahars say they are descended from Mahamuni, who was a foundling
picked up by the goddess Parvati on the banks of the Ganges. At this
time beef had not become a forbidden food; and when the divine cow,
Tripad Gayatri, died, the gods determined to cook and eat her body
and Mahamuni was set to watch the pot boiling. He was as inattentive
as King Alfred, and a piece of flesh fell out of the pot. Not wishing
to return the dirty piece to the pot Mahamuni ate it; but the gods
discovered the delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants to
live on the flesh of dead cows. [116]