Eating beef was a usual custom of India!

Eating beef was a usual custom of India. It is not the religious scriptures but it is human being who has made laws not to eat beef.
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As per Swami Vivekananda, the guests were offered the meat of bullock, but later, due to the problem of sustaining race, this practice was stopped.
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"Remember these customs have already been changed.
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***There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no Brahmin could remain a Brahmin;***
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***you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed;***
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how in time it was found that as we were an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a voice was raised against the killing of cows."
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(Complete Works of Vivekananda/Volume 3/Lectures from Colombo to Almora/REPLY TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT MADURA)
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If we see deeply, there are verses to eat the meat of animals in the major religious scriptures.
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It is mentioned is Rig Veda about the consumption of meat of bullock:
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"Fifteen in number, then, ***for me a score of bullocks they prepare,
And I devour the fat thereof: they fill my belly full with food.***
Supreme is Indra over all."
(Rig Veda, 10:86:14;
translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith;
source - http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10086.htm)
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Again it is said about the sacrifice of animals,
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"He in whom ***horses, bulls, oxen, and barren cows, and rams,*** when duly set apart, **are offered up**,—
To Agni, Soma-sprinkled, drinker of sweet juice, Disposer, with my heart I bring a fair hymn forth.
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**Into thy mouth is poured the offering**, Agni, as Soma into cup, oil into ladle.
Vouchsafe us wealth. strength-winning, blest with heroes, wealth lofty, praised by men, and full of splendour."
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(Rig Veda, 10:91:14-15;
translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith;
source - http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10091.htm)
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Manusmriti says that slaughtering animals for sacrifice is not equal to killing.
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"Svayambhu (the Self-existent) himself created animals for the sake of sacrifices; sacrifices (have been instituted) for the good of this whole (world);
***hence the slaughtering (of beasts) for sacrifices is not slaughtering (in the ordinary sense of the word)."***
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(The Laws of Manu, 5:39;
translated by George Bühler,
source - http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu05.htm)
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Quran also says about the consumption of animal meat almost in the same way,
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"O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. ***Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock*** except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur'an] - hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah ordains what He intends."
(The Quran, 5:1)
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Same issue is again repeated in the Bible.
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"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ***These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.***
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***Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.***
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Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you."
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(The KJV Bible, Leviticus, 11:2-4)
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=> Killing cows and offering its meat to guests in Hindu Scriptures
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Cattle were slaughtered for guests. But as per Swami Vivekananda this practise was later stopped. Sometimes we may wonder how an animal like cow became so sacred that Hindus started worshiping it and also prohibited its slaughter. When you ask any Hindu why he considers the Cow to be his Mother, he will tell you that ‘Since cow gives us milk, we consider it to be our mother’.
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In the Vedas even the earth is considered a Mother. The reason for this may be because food grows from the soil. So Hindus considers all such things to be their mother whichever provides them with food. As we have already read some references about cattle used as source of money and ploughing the fields. It could be that people in ancient India heavily relied on Agriculture. Many farmers in India still plough fields with the help of Bulls and Cows. So killing cattle would result in heavy loss for such people, thus the prohibition of killing cows may have enacted. Swami Vivekananda writes,
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“***you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed.***
How in time it was found that as we were an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a voice was raised against the killing of cows. Sometimes we find existing then what we now consider the most horrible customs.”
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[The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3]
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_3/Lectures_from_Colombo_to_Almora/Reply_to_the_Address_of_Welcome_at_Madura
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Hindu scriptures commands to slaughter cattle or goat for the guests,
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Vishnu Smriti 51.64,
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"When honoring a guest, at a sacrifice, or when worshipping the manes, or the gods, ***a man may slay cattle***, but not otherwise on any account."
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Sankhayana Grihya Sutra 2.15.1-3,
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"Should any one of the six persons (mentioned in the Srauta-sutra and in the Sutras 4-9) to whom the Arghya reception is due, visit (him), ***let him make (ready) a cow***, a goat, or what (sort of food) he thinks most like (thereto). Let the Argha not be without flesh. On the occasion of a sacrifice and of a wedding let (the guest) say, ‘Make it (ready).’"
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Kausitaki Brahmana 1.15,
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"…Just as in the world when a human king has come, or another deserving person, they slay an ox or a cow that miscarries; so for him they slay in that they kindle the fire, for Agni is the victim of the gods."
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Satapatha Brahmana 3:4:1:2,
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"Now as to why it is called ‘guest-offering.’ He, the purchased Soma, truly comes as his (the sacrificer’s) guest,–to him (is offered) that (hospitable reception):
even as for a king or a Brâhman ***one would cook a large ox or a large he-goat***–for that is human (fare offered to a guest), and the oblation is that of the gods–so he prepares for him that guest-offering."
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Asvalayana Grihya Sutra 1.24.33,
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"Let the Madhuparka not be without flesh, without flesh."
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Madhuparka means offerings to the guest.
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Krishna tells Yuddhisthira in Mahabharata 14.2,
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"…And then Kesava (Krishna) accosted him,–‘If a person indulges excessively in sorrow for his departed forefathers, he grieves them. (Therefore, banishing grief), do thou (now) celebrate many a sacrifice with suitable presents to the priests; and do thou gratify the gods with Soma liquor, and the manes of thy forefathers with their due food and drink.
***Do thou also gratify thy guests with meat*** and drink and the destitute with gifts commensurate with their desires…"
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Hindu scripture also say that cow is destroyer of sin because sacrificing it emancipates ones sins.
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Grihya Sutra of Hiranyakesin I Prasna, 4 Patala, 14 Section, verses 11-16,
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“That (cow is either killed or let loose. If he chooses to let it loose, (he murmurs), ‘This cow will become a milch cow’…..
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***If it shall be killed, (he says), ‘A cow art thou; sin is driven away from thee.***
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**Drive away my sin and the sin of N.N.!**
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Kill ye him whoever hates me. He is killed whosoever hates me. Make (the cow) ready!’
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***If (the cow) is let loose, a meal is prepared with other meat***, and he announces it (to the guest) in the words, ‘It is ready!’
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He replies, ‘It is well prepared; it is Virag; it is food. May it not fail! May I obtain it…Give food to the Brahmanas!’ After those (Brahmanas) have eaten, (the hose) orders blameless (?) food to be brought to him (i.e. to the guest)."
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The laws have been further declared in the last and scripture Al-Quran for all human being.
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يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا اَوْفُوْا بِالْعُقُوْدِ‌ؕ اُحِلَّتْ لَـكُمْ بَهِيْمَةُ الْاَنْعَامِ اِلَّا مَا يُتْلٰى عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّى الصَّيْدِ وَاَنْـتُمْ حُرُمٌ‌ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيْدُ
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"O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur'an] - hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah ordains what He intends."
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(The Noble Quran, 5:1)