Classical Indian thought contains a number of arguments for monism that reject the cogency of metaphysical pluralism's account of change, development, and causation in the world. They do this on the basis of (a) the coherence of changes that we see in the world, (b) the difficulty of limning absolute distinctions between individuals, and (c) the prerequisite need for some medium explaining causal interactions. This article provides some background to Indian philosophical thought about a basic fabric of reality that grounds changing forms, containing the telos of their evolution in potentia. It then sets out Coherence, Complexity, and Connection Arguments for monism as employed by the Vedāntic scholastic philosopher Śaṃkara. Along the way, we clarify the Vedāntic conception of a single material, efficient, and formal cause that provides a medium for connection and combination, is naturally replete with generative order and impetus, and in which the teloi of all forms are embedded. We will briefly consider what the argument shows, if it succeeds – comparing with current philosophical approaches to monism. Finally, we observe that this rich monism, describing a single vertiginous reality of many levels and powers, is central to classical Hindu conceptions of what makes something ‘divine’.

Cattle breeds indigenous to Africa (Sanga) compare favourably to Bos indicus breeds with regard to adaptation to harsh environments. This study compared the meat quality of three Sanga breeds (Nguni, Tuli and Drakensberger), a Sanga-related breed (Bonsmara) and a B. indicus breed (Brahman) and supported these results with biochemical and histological measurements on the M. longissimus lumborum. Twelve young grain-fed steers of each breed were slaughtered and carcasses were electrically stimulated. All Sanga (and related) breeds, with the exception of the Tuli, had lower Warner–Bratzler shear force (SF) values at 2 and 21 days post mortem compared with the BR (P < 0.05). Measurements related to the calcium-dependent protease system and myofibrillar fragmentation explained the bulk of the variation among breeds, whereas variation in fibre type, sarcomere length and connective tissue properties gave less convincing support. With the exception of the Tuli, Sanga and Sanga-related breeds produced more tender (according to SF) meat than BR, mainly due to favourable calpain-to-calpastatin ratios. Small differences in colour, drip loss and cooking properties were found among breeds (P < 0.05).

The objective of the experiment was to determine the effects of different, sustained levels of undernutrition on the reproductive performance of Brahman heifers, and on their subsequent growth to adulthood, when reared exclusively on a low-quality tropical pasture.

Irrespective of the live-weight gains realized between weaning and the target weight of 270 kg, heifers on all treatments conceived at a similar mean weight of 290 kg. Nevertheless, heifers on the low weight-gain treatment had a significantly different relationship of cumulative conceptions to weight, which was confirmed when Cox's proportional hazard model was fitted to the data, using a dummy variable to represent treatment effect.

A Gompertz growth model was fitted to the live weight of each individual animal. A significantly larger mean asymptotic weight was observed for the low weight-gain treatment, which was unrelated to the number of calvings or weanings, or to the total weight of calves weaned per animal. Asymptotic weights were positively correlated with first conception weight and age, both within and across treatments.

The implications of drastic post-weaning undernutrition and continued suboptimal feeding are discussed briefly.