[Advaita-l] Vegetarianism

[V Subrahmanian]

2012/4/16 Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk at gmail.com>

> The instruction of Lord Krishna and Sankara in this matter is
> crystal clear.



In the Brahmasutra 'अशुद्धमिति चेन्न शब्दात्’ 3.1.25 Shankaracharya has
argued that the Veda will not be teaching something that will bring sin to
a performer of a vedic ritual, as ordained by the Veda.  And the vedic
injunction involving an animal is not violative of the general rule: mA
himsyAt sarvaa bhUtAni (no being should be injured).  He has said that the
two operate like a general rule and an exception.

Several parables of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa center round fish eating,
fish-dishes, etc.  A Nepali Brahmin boy (studying shAstra -vyakarana,
nyaya, etc. in Vrindavan) who had come to Bangalore for the Vivekachudamani
workshop  told me that just like among Bengalis there are Brahmin families
in Nepal too who include meat in their daily/occasional menu.  There are
inter-marriages between families who have this practice and those who do
not.  If the girl from the latter agrees to go into such a meat eating
family there are no hassles.    I do not know if GaudapAdAcharya who is
said to have hailed from the Gaudadesha was from a family that was strictly
vegetarian.

Swami Vidyaranya has, in his Jivanmukti viveka, in the Vasanakshaya
prakaranam, mentioned that the South Indians fault the Northerners
(brahmins) for their meat-eating habits and the latter taunt the former for
their practice of girls marrying their maternal uncles and so on. So there
is this 'vasana' to hold one's own practices as high and fault  those of
others as censurable.  Such vasana according to the author  is not
conducive to spirituality.

subrahmanian.v