[Advaita-l] Advaitic Foods

[Venkatesh Murthy]

Today is Vaikuntha Ekadasi fast.  My suggestion to all is to avoid
talking of food for one day and  continue this discussion tomorrow. It
is a sin to eat on Ekadasi.

Regards

-Venkatesh

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 10:13 PM, Gopal <gopal.gopinath at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Medical studies says fish is bad for health because it has mercury.
>
> This is not true. Fish is susceptible to have mercury as sea bed etc. has
> mercury.  Mercury contamination because of human activity occurs may result
> in increased level of  mercury.   This needs to be monitored and is being
> done.
>
> This does not mean fish is bad becaues of mercury. Dogs get rabbies. People
> have pet dogs and as far as I know, they end up more saner than non-pet
> owners ;-)
> in many cases.
>
>>Kindly analyse Geeta 15.14 Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva and other Slokas
> description of Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika foods in Geeta.  What
> is your opinion of them?
>
> is it for the householder, regular bhakta or a serious devotee striving for
> salvation?
> Is the norms for a soldier applied for a merchant or a teacher?
>
>>Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva Sloka we say every time we have meals. The
> Agni in the stomach is Jatharagni the Vaishvanara. To that Agni we
> offer Havis the food we eat. He digests the food we eat. The food
> eating is a Yajna. In this Yajna we should offer Sattvika items. How
> can we put Rajasika and Tamasika items like fish?
>
> Sorry I dont have the reference, but Agni is said to consume everything. He
> and Yama
> are blind and impartial. What is Jatharagni? Agni with a face, mouth,brain,
> all the makeups we see in the movies
> sitting in our stomach? If he is digesting food, why do we worry about S,R
> or T? If Agni is going to do the digestion
> and give you the strength in terms of glucose and ATP to burn, why do you
> worry about the source of food?
>
> If I eat meat and have indigestion, is it because Agni is not doing his job
> right? does he eat the digestion medicine too?
>
> What happens if nutrients are pumped thru the blood vessels? How does agni
> eat it?
>
> Agni is pervasive. omnipresent. Before attributing anthropomorphic functions
> and status to Gods,
> and interpret them to day to day living, one has to think deeper.  Is Agni
> just the physical fire?
> god of fire? Lord of fire? Or is He something beyond and inclusive of this,
> a faculty in the jeevas that
> has a function and purpose?
>
>
> What is anna? what is yagna? You are quoting BGita on one hand, advaitic
> sadhana on the other, food affecting the prakriti thirdly,
> and then call a puranic interpretation of vaishvanara. What is the origin of
> Vaishvanara? Is your vaishvanara the same Chandogyo and B. Upanishads speak
> of?
>
>
> Apologies if I sound rude. But on one hand we talk about advaita and what
> not, on the other hand we refer to puraanaa-s to justify
> our views; someone will quote brahmasutras to counter someone else counting
> some other part of Brahmasutras. Before arguing and
> conferring our shallow human mind-derived opinions, isn't it better to find
> what is the meaning of these?
>
> -gopal
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:44 PM, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Fish cannot be Sattvika even if Easterners eat it.  Medical studies
>> says fish is bad for health because it has mercury.  Sattvika cannot
>> be nonveg items.  If Ramakrishna said this it is not correct.
>>
>> Kindly analyse Geeta 15.14 Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva and other Slokas
>> description of Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika foods in Geeta.  What
>> is your opinion of them?
>>
>> Aham Vaishvanaro Bhutva Sloka we say every time we have meals. The
>> Agni in the stomach is Jatharagni the Vaishvanara. To that Agni we
>> offer Havis the food we eat. He digests the food we eat. The food
>> eating is a Yajna. In this Yajna we should offer Sattvika items. How
>> can we put Rajasika and Tamasika items like fish?
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> -Venkatesh
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 11:41 PM, V Subrahmanian
>> <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ----------------------------------------
>> >> > Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:27:11 +0530
>> >> > From: vmurthy36 at gmail.com
>> >> > To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
>> >> > Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Advaitic Foods
>> >> >
>> >> > The reference to stale food is directly found in Baudhayana Dharma
>> >> > Sutra 1 1.2 3 about peculiar customs in South India.
>> >> >
>> >> > http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe14/sbe1435.htm
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> "... to eat in the company of an uninitiated person, to eat in the
>> >> company of one's wife, to eat stale food, to marry the daughter of
>> >> a maternal uncle or of a paternal aunt."
>> >>
>> >> These are described as customs unique to the southern part of India.
>> >>
>> >
>> > I have heard an accomplished Vedic Pandit (GhanapAThi) say that in his
>> days
>> > of adhyayanam at the Gurukulam, the norm was the breakfast is
>> 'pazhayadhu'
>> > (previous night's cooked rice combined with buttermilk, with perhaps some
>> > ginger and salt mixed).
>> >
>> > There is one occasion that I have observed when on the 'kanu pongal'
>> (said
>> > to be actually kANum pongal)(the day after the main pongal festival) in
>> the
>> > early morning women offer certain food stuff to God.  The items offered
>> > include: rice cooked the previous day, mixed with curds and kept
>> overnight,
>> > left-over sweet pongal, vaDai, sugarcane piece and ground raw turmeric.
>>  All
>> > these will be offered in the open, in a small banana leaf by the women
>> > before they bathe.
>> >
>> > Local customs being the topic of derisive comment is a typical subject
>> for
>> > Swami Vidyaranya's categorisation as ' loka vAsanA'.  In the
>> > 'वासनाक्षयप्रकरणम्’ of the जीवन्मुक्तिविवेकः’, he says:
>> >
>> > Quote // The attachment that the races of mankind develop, each in its
>> own
>> > sphere, towards traditional customs and manners of their respective
>> > countries and communities, as well as towards their mother-tongue,
>> > irrespective of the correct or incorrect form of words used and such
>> other
>> > kind of attachment may be broadly cited as examples of this.
>> >
>> > ......Similarly there is slandering prevalent on a large scale, with
>> > reference to local peculiarities.  The southern BrahmaNa-s upbraid their
>> > northern fellows, well-versed in Vedic lore, as flesh-eaters; the
>> northern
>> > BrahmaNa-s retaliate by finding fault with the southern custom of
>> marrying
>> > the daughter of a maternal uncle and of carrying earthenware in their
>> > travels.
>> >
>> > The bahvRcha-s, Rgvedi-s, of the AshvalAyana shAkha look upon the
>> > KANvashAkhaa, yajurvedi-s, as inferior to theirs; while the
>> Vajasaneyin-s,
>> > yajurvedi-s, think otherwise.  Thus, from the learned down to women and
>> > ignorant herdsmen, is found this general tendency to glorify one's own
>> > family, section, relatives, gods and so on, and to belittle those of
>> > others.  It has been said with this in mind:
>> >
>> > // 'The pure man is looked upon as a devil, the clever man as
>> presumptuous,
>> > the man of forbearance as weak, the strong man as cruel, the
>> absent-minded
>> > man as a thief, and the handsome man as lewd.  Who can please the
>> world!!'
>> > Also 'there is no expedient within knowledge wherewith one can satisfy
>> all
>> > people.  One's own good should, by all possible means, be looked to.
>>  What
>> > can the myriad-tongued world do?' //
>> > Looking, therefore, upon the vAsanA of public opinion, लोकवासना’ as
>> entirely
>> > impure, books treating of liberation, मोक्षशास्त्रम्, advise the foremost
>> of
>> > yogin-s to treat censure and praise alike.  // Unquote.
>> >
>> > The gist of the above is: //One's own good should, by all possible means,
>> be
>> > looked to.  What can the myriad-tongued world do?'//
>> >
>> > The observation by Sri Venkatesh Murthy //But my original request was if
>> any
>> > member experience proper concentration on Advaitic thoughts after eating
>> > Sattvika food.// cannot be answered unless one decides what constitutes
>> > saattvika food. The definition of sattvik food can vary from place to
>> place,
>> > customs, etc.  For example, the Bengali-Brahmin custom of eating fish was
>> > prevalent in Sri Ramakrishna's family.  Yet, his attaining nirvikalpa
>> > samadhi and attaining Advaitic sAkShAtkAra through the initiation of
>> > Totapuri is there in recorded history. Here is a couple of sayings of Sri
>> > Ramakrishna (from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) :
>> >
>> > //"Hindus, Mussalmans, Christians, Saktas, Saivas, Vaishnavas, the
>> > Brahmajnanis of the time of the rishis, and you, the Brahmajnanis of
>> modern
>> > times, all seek the same object. A mother prepares dishes to suit the
>> > stomachs of her children. Suppose a mother has five children and a *fish*
>> is
>> > bought for the family. She doesn't cook pilau or kalia for all of them.
>> All
>> > have not the same power of digestion; so she prepares a simple stew for
>> > some. But she loves all her children equally.
>> >
>> > "Do you know my attitude? I love all the preparations of *fish*. I have a
>> > womanly nature. (*All laugh*.) I feel myself at home with every dish —
>> fried
>> > *fish*, *fish* cooked with turmeric powder, pickled *fish*. And further,
>> I
>> > equally relish rich preparations like *fish*-head, kalia, and pilau.
>> (*All
>> > laugh*.)
>> >
>> > "Do you know what the truth is? God has made different religions to suit
>> > different aspirants, times, and countries.//
>> >
>> >
>> > //MASTER (*to Vijay and the others*): "Four desires have come into my
>> mind.
>> > I shall *eat* *fish* curry cooked with egg-plant. I shall visit
>> Shivanath.
>> > The devotees will repeat the name of Hari over their beads, and I shall
>> > watch them. And the Tantrik devotees will drink consecrated wine, eight
>> > annas' worth, on the
>> > ashtami*<
>> http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/gospel/volume_2/29_durga_puja.htm#blank
>> >day,
>> > and I shall watch them and salute them."//
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > subrahmanian.v
>> > _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards
>>
>> -Venkatesh
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-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh