[Advaita-l] Vegetarianism

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 5:15 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Even if Ramakrishna Paramahamsa were a jivan mukta, we cannot eat fish if
> it is not a remnant of a yajna. In which yajna, do you offer fish? If
> Ramakrishna was not a paramahamsa, it is just a fishy behaviour :)
>

We perform daily once or twice a yajna called 'prANAgnihotram' just before
having our meals.  First the food, in particles, are ceremonially offered,
with mantras, to the prANa-devatA-s.  When it is offered one has no
ownership of the offered food.  'na mama' is the attitude.  And only after
this offering is done do we consume the food.  This is the remnant of what
has been offered to the devatA-s, now received as prasada from the
devatA-s.  A brahmin family that has fish in its menu/diet can very well
offer the food to the Lord and eat the food as the prasadam/remnant of this
offering.  Every offering is a yajna.  'yaj' dhAtu has a meaning of 'pUja'.
The BG 4th chapter lists several types of yajna-s and concludes: Thus the
karma kANDa of the Veda has in it several - bahuvidhAH - yajnas mentioned.
Those who do not follow even one of these is doing harm to his own
spiritual upliftment.

http://traveller.outlookindia.com/destinationlink.aspx?id=1366&destinationid=446
At the Dakshineshwar Temple, the bell for bhog rings exactly at noon but
the Rs 10 bhog ticket has to be taken at 9 am from the office behind the
main temple. Bhog is vegetarian fare consisting of rice, dal and
vegetables; it’s served in the verandah adjoining the natmandir. Though the
goddess is offered fresh pona fish from the river, this prasad is only for
the priests.

http://www.kanchanmoni.com/puja_essentials.htm
This moment indicated the commencement of Sandhi Puja. Sabarno Raychoudhury
of Barisha worshipped the Chamunda Devi by burning 'Layta' and 'Pholui'
(types of fishes) fishes.

I am not very sure if fish-preparations are offered as neivedyam at the
Belur Math, Kolkata.

It is not enough to say that some elder said so because some other elders
> (e.g. Kanchi Mahaperiyava) dont say so.


This is deshAchAra.The Sringeri earlier Acharya has said 'Sri Ramakrishna
is a Jnani.' The AchAra of that place permitted the use of fish in the
daily menu.  There are differences between/among smRtis authored by Rshis.


Regards,
subrahmanian.v