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Shatavadhani Ganesh
Indology | 11-08-2015
Co-authored by Hari R avikumar
In 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations conducted asurvey of meat
consumption per person in every country. India
came last.
Food: Vegetarian and Non-VegetarianFurther, there are more vegetarians in India than
the rest of the world combined (we can get a
sense from this list). There is a widespread notionthat such a high level of vegetarianism is due to
Hinduism. While it is true that many Hindus are
vegetarians, it is incorrect to say that Hinduism
forbids meat-eating.
In the large body of the f undamental works of
Hinduism, there are several rules and prescriptions
(quite often contradictory in letter though not in
spirit) with respect to food and drink. We can find
quite a few of these rules in the four Vedas but most
of them are found in the Smṛti texts (like
Manusmṛti), the Dharmasūtras (like Āpastamba
.SHARES
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Dharmasūtra), and the Gṛhyasūtras (like
Āśvalāyāna Gṛhyasūtra).We can glean several
interesting details from our traditional works.
For example, we learn that food was eaten while
being seated (Rigveda Saṃhitā 4.30.3), food waseaten only twice a day (Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 1.4.9),
and that talking was kept to a minimum while eating
(Baudhayana Dharmasūtra 2.7.2). In times of
emergencies, there were absolutely no restrictions
on food (Brahma Sūtra 3.4.29-31). We are asked to
greet our food, honour it, rejoice upon seeing it, andpray that we may always obtain it (Manusmṛti 2.54-
55).
There are many references to meat-eating in our
scriptures. In the oldest composition of them all,
the Rigveda Saṃhitā, we see that our ancients
cooked the flesh of oxen and offered it to the gods,
especially Indra (see RVS 10.86.14 or 10.27.2, for
example). Horses, bulls, oxen, barren cows, and
rams were sacrificed for Agni (RVS 10.91.14).
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 3.1.2.21 says that sage
Yājñavalkya would eat the meat of cows and oxen,
provided it was tender. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad6.4.18 says that if a couple wants to beget a son
who will grow up to be a great scholar, they have to
eat rice cooked with beef, along with ghee.
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 11.7.1.3 goes on to say that
meat is the best kind of food!
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Sage Vasistha
But even in the early texts, we can see the
compassion of our ancient people. In RVS 8.43.11,
Agni is hailed as one whose food is the ox and the
barren cow. Often in the Rigveda Saṃhitā (see1.164.27, 1.164.40, 4.1.6, and 5.83.8, for
example),the cow is called aghnyā, ‘one who
doesn’t deserve to be killed.’ Therefore, it seems
that only barren cows were killed. How else do we
account for the lavish praise showered on cows
(RVS 6.23.1-8 and 8.101.15-16)? One verse (RVS8.101.16), which hails the cow as devī , ‘goddess.’
Although animal sacrifices were prevalent in the
Vedic period, there were already some attempts to
reduce this. They came up with the idea thatinstead
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of killing an animal, one could offer heartfelt
praise to the gods or a fuel-stick or cooked
food (see RVS 8.19.5 and 8.24.20 for example).
In later times, they even developed an ingenious
theory that a person who eats meat will—in hisnext birth—become the meat eaten by that
animal (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 9.6.1.3).
In the Mahābhārata (Droṇa Parva / Book 3, Chapter
199), sage Mārkāṇḍeya tells Yudhiṣṭhira the story of
a hunter and a priest. When the priest accuses the
hunter of violence, the latter narrates the story of
King Rantideva: “In Rantideva’s kitchen, two
thousand animals were killed every day as were two
thousand cows. Rantideva became famous because
he fed meat to all his people.”
Kālidāsa (5 century CE) says in Meghadūta 1.45that River Charmanvati (modern-day Chambal)
arose from the glory of King Rantideva who
sacrificed thousands of cows. Mallinātha
(13 century CE) says in his commentary on the
Meghadūta that Charmanvati originated with the
constant washing of cow hide and the flowing of theblood of cows.
But over the years, meat-eating reduced in India.
This was due to a combination of socio-religious,
geographical, and cultural factors. However, we
observe that meat (including beef) was still
th
th
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consumed as part of rituals and special occasions.
For example, during śrāddha, a ritual in memory of
dead parents and other ancestors (Āpastamba
Dharmasūtra 2.7.16.25); while preparing a meal for
a distinguished guest as part
of madhuparka(Āśvalāyāna Gṛhyasūtra 1.24.22-26,
Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra 4.8); or in the śūlagava ritual
in which a bull is killed (Āśvalāyāna Gṛhyasūtra
4.9.10).
In fact, to put to rest arguments of those days, a text
no less than the Brahma Sūtra (3.1.25) says thatthe scriptures don’t have a problem with killing
animals for a specified ritual. Even the Manusmṛti, a
text that is rather partial to vegetarianism, says that
meat-eating is fine under specific circumstances like
during a calamity or as part of a ritual (MS 5.27,
5.32).
Madhuparka is the practice of offering honey to
honour a distinguished guest. According to
Yājñavalkyasmṛti 1.110, six kinds of people are
offered madhuparka – a priest ( ṛtvik ), a
teacher (ācārya), bridegroom, king,
graduate (snātaka), and someone dear to thehost.
The Baudhāyana Gṛhyasūtra 1.2.65 adds ‘guest’
(atithi ) to this list. As part of madhuparka, honey,
curds, ghee, water, and grains were offered while
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Ramayana (Pic Courtesy: Google Image Search)
meat was optional (See Āśvalāyāna Gṛhyasūtra
1.22.5-26 for more details).
In the prelude to Act IV of Bhavabhūti’s
play,Uttararāmacarita (8 century CE), there is a
delightful dialogue between two ascetics,Saudhātaki and Daṇḍāyana. Saudhātaki is curious
about the guest who is visiting their āśrama and
learns that it is Vasiṣṭha. He tells Daṇḍāyana, “I
thought it was a tiger or a wolf. My poor calf was
terrified since his arrival.”
“When a great scholar visits us, we should offer
themadhuparka with beef or mutton, as it is said in
thedharmasūtras!”
Saudhātaki says, “You contradict yourself. A calf
was sacrificed for Vasiṣṭha but when King Janaka
th
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came, he was offered just milk and curds. The calf
was set free.”
“What the dharmasūtras say in this matter applies to
those who have not given up meat. King Janaka is a
vegetarian.
All these examples – of Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti, and
Mallinātha – serve to shed light on how meat-eating
was perceived in the first millennium CE in India.
Jainism was the first (and perhaps only) religion
whose adherents were strictlyvegetarian.Buddhism did not forbid meat-eating
per se but they were against animal sacrifice.
People were weaned away from eating meat due to
the influence of these two religions and also with the
rise of the Vaiṣṇava faith, which used Bhāgavata
Purāṇa 7.15.7-8 as their reference for whollyavoiding meat.
Alcohol As for consuming alcohol, many texts prescribe
abstinence while some others prohibit consumption
for some groups of people. However, in the Vedas,we find many instances of the consumption of the
juice from the soma creeper (possibly Cannabis
sativa) as an immediate reward after
conductingyajña and the consumption
of surā (alcohol made from fermented barley or wild
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paddy) for pleasure (for example, see RVS 1.116.7,
8.2.12, or 10.131.4-5).
While the drinking of soma was commended,
drinking surā was condemned. Kāṭhaka Saṃhitā
12.12 puts it eloquently when it says that one shouldkeep away from alcohol in order that a person may
avoid committing a sinful act, in speech or in deed.
There is a verse in the
Rigveda Saṃhitā (10.5.6)
that lists the seven rules
of conduct for men;
anyone who violates
even one of these is a
sinner. We know from
Yāska’s Nirukta (6.27)
that drinking alcohol is
one of the seven
transgressions.
Manusmṛti 11.55 lists the
five terrible sins
( pañcamahāpātaka)
among which we findalcohol consumption.
According to Manu, it is
especially forbidden for
abrāhmaṇa to drink
alcohol and he even prescribes a harsh punishment
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for it (MS 11.91).
It is interesting to note that there are references for
both Rāma and Kṛṣṇa partaking alcohol and/or
meat. Rāma offers meat to Sītā and coaxes her to
try it out since it is well-cooked (Ayodhyākāṇḍa /Book 2, 96.1-2). When Hanuman meets Sītā in the
Aśoka-vātikā, he tells her that Rāma has been
pining for her, and afflicted by sorrow, he has turned
vegetarian and a teetotaller (Sundarakāṇḍa / Book
5, 36.41). Later, there is another section where
Rāma feeds Sītā with wine, meat, and fruits(Uttarakāṇḍa / Book 7, 42.18-20).
Similarly, there is a segment where Kṛṣṇa and
Arjuna get totally drunk in a party along with
Draupadi and Satyabhāma (Udyoga Parva / Book 5,
58.5).
That said, there is no need for devout Hindus to
get upset by this or for Hindu critics to get take
their usual perverse delight. These incidents
don’t affect the personalities of great heroes like
Rāma and Kṛṣṇa; at any rate, one need not judge
others by their personal habits.
AyurvedaThe texts of Āyurveda tell us that in terms of health
and wellness, a purely vegetarian diet is not
superior to a healthy mix of vegetarian and non-
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vegetarian foods. In fact, some kinds of meat have
been recommended for staple use.
Further, Āyurveda does not emphasise
vegetarianism even in its code of ethics; it is not
a prerequisite for high culture. This is in sharpcontrast to its take on alcoholic drinks, which though
regarded healthy in moderation, has been despised
in the code.
To get an overall picture about food and drink, we
need to look no further than the Bhagavad-Gītā, the
greatest summary of Hindu thought. Krishna (BG
3.13) gives us an idea of how we should approach
food and drink in general:
The wise ones eat the food that remains
after being offered to yajña;
thus, they are released from all evils.
The wicked ones prepare food for their own sake
and indeed live on sin alone.
In the act of obtaining food, we cause some harm tothe natural environment. So we should eat our
food with a sense of gratitude, which is what
Krishna refers to as ‘offering to yajña.’ We
should never feel entitled to our food; ‘living on sin’
refers to this.
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Later, in Bhagavad-Gītā 17.7-10, Krishna speaks
about the nature of people and the food that they
enjoy but he never prescribes a particular type of
food that one should eat.
It is impossible for us to survive without inflictingsome degree of violence to the world around us.
Manusmṛti (3.68-71) mentions the five places in a
house ( pañcasūnā) where living beings may be
accidentally killed – the fire-place, grinding slab,
pestle and mortar, places swept with a broom, and
the water pot.
To absolve themselves of this sin, householders are
expected to perform the five great worships
( pañcamahāyajña) every day: prayers to the gods,
homage to ancestors, respect to the wise and
the pursuit of knowledge, service to fellow
beings, and worship of forces of nature.
Attitude Towards Food andDrinkWe cannot altogether be non-violent but to the
extent possible we should avoid violence. It isnoteworthy that Manu prohibits any form of killing
for pleasure (MS 5.45) and declares that a person
who does not injure any living being attains the
highest bliss (MS 5.46-47).
Therefore, when it comes to food habits, being a
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Ayurveda (Pic Courtesy: Google Image search)
vegetarian is preferred – with sustainability in view
– but not imposed. Keeping this in mind, it will be
better if meat-eaters respect their vegetarian
(and vegan) brethren rather than look upon them
with disdain. On the other hand, the vegetarians
(and vegans) need not look at meat-eaters with a
‘holier than thou’ attitude because it is only natural
for humans to eat meat.
A commonly used word for food in Sanskrit and
other Indian languages is āhāra. The etymology of
the word – āhriyate iti āhāraḥ, ‘āhāra is that which istaken in’ – suggests that it refers to anything that
we consume, not just food.
If we truly want sustainability of the planet and
all the living beings in it, then we have to look at
our intake not just from the point of view of
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food.
Just as a start, think about how our food is
produced, processed, and shipped. If we learn more
about food procurement, then we can make more
informed choices of what foods to avoid and how wecan help sustainability in the large sense.
Whatever positive ecological effects one might have
by being vegetarian might be cancelled out by a bad
choice in what kind of foods we pick (heavily
processed food, genetically modified food, etc.)
Similarly, the negative effects of meat-eating can
be tempered by making better choices in how
the meat is procured.
Finally, there can be no universal dictum about
the food that we can eat or should not eat. Let us
try our best to behave in a way that is sustainablefor the world. Let us develop the right attitude
towards our food – that of gratitude and joy. And let
us remember the wise words of Manu (MS 5.56) lest
we beat ourselves about it:
Meat-eating, drinking, and sex –
can you call these faults?
It is but natural for people to engage in it,
however, it’s a great thing if one stays away from it!
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(Additional input thanks: Dr. G. L. Krishna and Dr.
Koti Sreekrishna)
References: Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam by Vāgbhaṭa, Sūtrasthānam,
Chapters 2, 5, 6 and 8
Bhavabhūti’s Uttararāmacarita. Bombay:
Nirṇayasāgara Press, 1949. pp. 103-5
Kālidāsa’s Meghadūta. Bombay: Nirṇayasāgara
Press, 1915. pp. 37
Kane, Pandurang Vaman. History of Dharmaśātra.
Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,
1941. Vol. II, Part II. pp. 542-49 (Chapter X.
Madhuparka and Other Usages) and pp. 757-800
(Chapter XXII. Bhojana)
Mahabharata, Book 3, Chapter 199 < http://sacred-
texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs03199.htm>
Mahābhārata: Text as Constituted in its Critical
Edition. Vol. 2. Udyoga-, Bhīṣma- and Droṇa-
Parvans. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute, 1972
Prakash, Om. Food and Drink in Ancient India. New
Delhi: Munshi Ram Manohar Lal, 1961
Sreekrishna, Koti and Ravikumar, Hari. Tastarians. 1
Jul. 2015 < blogspot.in/2010/02/tastarians.html>
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Sreekrishna, Koti and Ravikumar, Hari. The New
Bhagavad-Gita. Mason: W.I.S.E. Words Inc., 2011.
pp. 84, 243
Śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇam (Mūlamantram).
Gorakhpur: Gita Press, 1963
Swamy, B. G. L. The Rg Vedic Soma Plant. Indian
Journal of History of Science (1976)
Shatavadhani GaneshDr. Ganesh is a Shatavadhani, a multi-faceted scholar,
linguist, and poet and polyglot and author of numerous books on philosophy, Hinduism, art, music, dance, and culture.