Vegetarianism
One of the fundamentals principles of Hinduism is diversity therefore we have diverse meals in Hinduism. Hinduism is a polytheistic faith there are different gods, different kinds of food habits and there is no such thing as an ideal Hindu Meal. There would be vegetarians, non-vegetarians, egalitarians, all kinds of meals all kinds of plants and fruits. The unique way of eating Indian food is where all food is served in a thali and you mix and match in different proportions depending on what you want to eat.
Vegetarianism is neither a virtue nor a non-virtue. The Tapasvi and Yogi traditions (monastic) of India there was a desire to keep away from all things worldly. They equated vegetarianism at one level with good health at another level with not doing cruelty towards animals. It is from the monastic tradition that vegetarianism comes and it is adopted gradually by the upper castes in India and this became a kind of Sankritization process which basically means to associate yourself with the upper caste and elite in the society you shun non-vegetarian food. But if you look at India as a whole all the communities, all the sects, across the country most people do eat non-vegetarian food. So we can't equate Vegetarianism with Hinduism. Rituals have been changing in Hinduism from the past 2000 years. The goddess in Hinduism is offered blood sacrifice, and that's part of her ritual. She is called Raktavilasini. Fish offered to the goddess especially in the shakto tradition and the shakti across India, so buffalo are slaughtered, goats are slaughtered roosters are given to her, and fish is given to her.
If someone asks why beef is not consumed by Hindus, every community defines itself through certain ritual practices. There are taboo foods in every religion. In the same way not eating beef is a way of defining Hinduism. But it is not really the word beef, it is not eating cow meat. It doesn't mean bull meat, buffalo meat, or buff meat. There are lots of Ayurvedic texts in which non-vegetarian food is consumed.
Eating vegetarian or non-vegetarian food doesn't make you superior or inferior it is all part of the Indian tradition.
Nice information
ReplyDelete