“Do not give up anything. Things will give you up by themselves – Shri Bhagwan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa — SWAMI VIVEKANANDA – Philosopher of Freedom https://theprint.in/opinion/vivekanand-loved-spicy-mutton-curry-no-amount-of-eating-grass-brings-any-good/1669727/
After reading the above article on The Print, personally it seems to me as though the whole business of beef or meat-eating or vegetarianism and Hindu zealotry is needlessly whipping up passion on both sides of the aisle. One side uses the Vedic scriptures to buttress its advocacy of meat eating. The other side interprets the scriptures to be demeaning non-vegetarianism as non-virtue. And both sides are ignorant of what truly is the Hindu traditional standpoint.
Their ignorance is clearly demonstrated in all this fuss raised about Swami Vivekananda’s appetite for mutton etc. etc. But worse than that is the kind of public discourse about beef-eating and non-vegetarianism in India which has turned political which at times leads to violence amongst so-called “Go-rakshaks”. Please scroll all the way down to read below a recent Op-Ed article written by one Krishnan Natrajan … and you’ll get what I mean.
The way the Vedic standpoint is stated in scriptures is that they are neither for nor against meat-eating. This is not to say they are agnostic about the different dietary choices Man can make in life. The scriptures are very clear in saying “what you eat is what you become”. This is not being facetious. It is profound insight into the indisputable medical reality that diet has great influence on both bodily condition as well as on mental disposition or behaviour.
The Vedic literature — read the Bhagavath Gita — tacitly says “eat whatever you wish to eat, but be mindful of the outcome … If you eat junk, you’ll become junk too both in body and soul”.
The mind and body impact each other. The food people eat influences their nature and vice versa. The Chhāndogya Upaniṣhad explains that the coarsest part of the food we eat passes out as feces; the subtler part becomes flesh; and the subtlest part becomes the mind (6.5.1).
Again, it states: āhāra śhuddhau sattva śhuddhiḥ (7.26.2) “By eating pure food, the mind becomes pure.” The reverse is also true people with pure minds preferring pure foods.
Although we might like to have junk, oily, meaty and spicy food, it is not good for our health and invariably causes illness. To curb the tāmasic and rājasic nature of our mind and to follow a sāttvic regime is the only way to have healthy body and mind. “The pleasures that arise from contact with the sense objects, though appearing as enjoyable to worldly-minded people, are verily a source of misery. And such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise do not delight in them.” (Bhagavad Gita 5.22)
What the above Gita and Upanishad passages clearly state cannot be construed to be advocacy either for or against meat-eating. They are however clear advocacy for humans to eat only what is “pure and wholesome in nature” or “sattva” and to abjure food (be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian) that is “impure and unwholesome” or “Taamasic” or “Rajasic” .
The choice presented by the Hindu scriptures hence is not between Meat and Vegetarian, beef and bacon and milk and cereals —- it is only between Saatvic and un-Saatvic food .
People are totally confused in this matter and don’t know what they are talking or writing about – including the ISKCON community leaders and columnists like Natrajan Krishnan.
Therefore, it is simply absurd to quote the Vedic scriptures to either make a case for or against meat-eating — whether such arguments are made by Hindus against beef-eating non-Hindu non-vegetarians or made by non-Hindus to lecture vegetarian Hindus about their hypocrisy. One side is being as ridiculous as the other.
In a Chapter in my book published in 2016-17 (The Unusual Essays of an Unknown Sri Vaishnava …. https://www.scribd.com/book/547005162/UNUSUAL-ESSAYS-OF-AN-UNKNOWN-SRI-VAISHNAVA ) under the title “Food for thought and Thought for food”, I have explained elaborately the position of Hindu Vedic literature on Diet, Meat eating and vegetarianism. Please buy the book on Amazon and read, if you are interested to know more about the subject.
Sudarshan Madabushi
Cow meat in Hindu scriptures
*By: Natraj Krishnan*
A recent photograph of some Hindu Protesters demanding a ban on non-vegetarian food made me sit and take notice of the Vedas.
I believe that these protesters are ignorant of what our/their religion preaches. They are simply going against their own religious scriptures.
Let me quote some of the Hindu scriptures:
Manusmriti: chapter 5 verse30:
*”It is not sinful to eat meat of eatable animals, for God has created both the eaters and the eatables”.*
Aapastanba Grishsutram(1/3/10):
says, *”The cow should be slaughtered on the arrival of a guest, on the occasion of ‘Shraaddha of ancestors and on the occasion of a marriage”*.
Rigveda (10/85/13): declares, *”On the occasion of a girl’s marriage oxen and cows are slaughtered”.*
Rigveda (6/17/1) : states that, *”Indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo”.*
Vashishta Dharmasutra (11/34): says, *”If a Brahmin refuses to eat the meat offered to him on the occasion of, ‘Shraaddha’ he goes to hell”.*
Hinduisms great propagator Swami Vivekaanand said thus: *”You will be surprised to know that according to ancient Hindu rites and rituals, a man cannot be a good Hindu who does not eat beef”.*
(The complete works of Swami Vivekanand vol :3/5/36)
*”The book – The history and culture of the indian people”* – published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai and edited by renowned historian R C Majumdar (vol 2, page 18 says): *This is said in the Mahabharata that “king Ratindra used to kill 2000 other animals in addition to 2000 cows daily in order to give their meat in charity”.*
*Aadi Shankaracharya commentary on Brahadaranyako panishad 6/4/18 says: ‘Odaan’ rice mixed with meat is called ‘maansodan’ on being asked whose meat it should be, he answers ‘Uksha’ is used for an ox, which is capable to produce semen…*
Now who do you want to follow?
*Religious Books or illiterate sanghi street louts??*
Courtesy* Natraj Krishnan