Diet in Hinduism
[2] By mid-1st millennium BCE, all three major Indian religions – Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism – were championing non-violence as an ethical value, and something that affected one's rebirth.
[3][4] Ralph Fitch, a merchant from London and one of the earliest English travellers to India wrote a letter home in 1580 stating: They have a very strange order among them ...
[5]Vegetarianism in ancient IndiaIn that country they do not keep pigs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butchers' shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink.
[10] Acts of animal sacrifice were not fully accepted since there were signs of unease and tension owing to the 'gory brutality of sacrificial butchery' dating back to as early as the older Vedas.
[11] The earliest reference to the idea of ahimsa or non-violence to animals (pashu-ahimsa) in any literature, apparently in a moral sense, is found in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda (KapS 31.11), written about the 8th century BCE.
[14][15] The Dharmasastra literature, states Patrick Olivelle, admonishes "people not to cook for themselves alone", offer it to the gods, to forefathers, to fellow human beings as hospitality and as alms to the monks and needy.
[14] The Hindu tradition views procurement and preparation of food as necessarily a violent process, where other life forms and nature are disturbed, in part destroyed, changed and reformulated into something edible and palatable.
[17] Commentators starting with Medhātithi interpret the verses to mean that flesh-eating is prohibited generally, and only permitted in the presence of mitigating circumstances, such as danger to life.
[18] The Mahabharata contains numerous stories glorifying non-violence towards animals and has some of the strongest statements against slaughter of animals—three chapters of the epic are dedicated to the evils of flesh-eating.
[19] The Tirukkuṛaḷ, another ancient Indian secular text of Hindu or Jain origin, emphasizes ahimsa and insists on moral vegetarianism or veganism.
[20]: 101 Originally written in the South Indian language of Tamil, the text states moderate diet as a virtuous lifestyle and criticizes "non-vegetarianism" in its Pulaan Maruthal (abstinence from flesh or meat) chapter, through verses 251 through 260.
This text, written before 400 CE, and sometimes called the Tamil Veda, discusses eating habits and its role in a healthy life (Mitahara), dedicating Chapter 95 of Book II to it.
"[24][25][26][27] The Puranic texts fiercely oppose violence against animals in many places "despite following the pattern of being constrained by the Vedic imperative to nominally accept it in sacrificial contexts".
The most important Puranic text, the Bhagavata Purana goes farthest in repudiating animal sacrifice—refraining from harming all living beings is considered the highest dharma.
[29] M. N. Srinivas and other subsequent authors developed the idea of Sanskritisation, arguing that marginalised individuals and communities adopt vegetarianism in order to gain prestige or improve their status in the caste hierarchy.
[32][36] A typical modern urban Hindu lacto-vegetarian meal is based on a combination of grains such as rice and wheat, legumes, green vegetables, and dairy products.
[38] A number of Hindus, particularly those following the Vaishnava tradition, refrain from eating onions and garlic, either totally or during the Chaturmasya period (roughly July to November of the Gregorian calendar).
Members of the related Pushtimargi sect also avoid certain vegetables such as onion, mushrooms, and garlic out of the belief that these are tamasic (producing dullness, lethargy, and inertia).
