Jack The GOOD guy
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HPMageson has written extensively on this subject . To those who are still unaware the basic gist is that vegetarianism is an anti vedic , pro buddhist "invention" having no basis in any of the vedic scriptures .In this post i'd like to point out the more technical aspects of how this corruption actually happened .
1.Hijacking of the "Samkhya" school of philosophy by Buddhists and Jains
A.The theory of guna
In Samkhya philosophy, a guṇa is one of three "tendencies, qualities": sattva, rajas and tamas. This category of qualities has been widely adopted by various schools of Hinduism for categorizing behavior and natural phenomena. The three qualities are:
Sattva is the quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, universalizing, holistic, constructive, creative, building, positive attitude, luminous, serenity, being-ness, peaceful, virtuous.[3][4][5]
Rajas is the quality of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, self-centeredness, egoistic, individualizing, driven, moving, dynamic.[6][7]
Tamas is the quality of imbalance, disorder, chaos, anxiety, impure, destructive, delusion, negative, dull or inactive, apathy, inertia or lethargy, violent, vicious, ignorant.[8]
In Indian philosophy, these qualities are not considered as present in either-or fashion. Rather, everyone and everything has all three, only in different proportions and in different contexts.[9] The living being or substance is viewed as the net result of the joint effect of these three qualities.[9][6]
According to the Samkhya school, no one and nothing is either purely Sattvik or purely Rajasik or purely Tamasik.[6] One's nature and behavior is a complex interplay of all of these, with each guna in varying degrees. In some, the conduct is Rajasik with significant influence of Sattvik guna, in some it is Rajasik with significant influence of Tamasik guna, and so on.[6]
These gunas are basically related to the elements and the soul. As everyone here knows already ,all elements are already present in the soul. The process of advancement requires empowering certain elements and balancing all to achieve the state of perfect balance ,according to ones needs. This is the reason why certain meditations are uncomfortable to some people and some are not. This is the guna at play.
B.The hijacking of the Guna philosophy by the Buddhists
The application of Sattva and Tamas concepts to food is a later and relatively new extension to the Mitahara virtue in Yoga literature. Verses 1.57 through 1.63 of Hatha Yoga Pradipika[11] suggests that taste cravings should not drive one’s eating habits, rather the best diet is one that is tasty, nutritious and likable as well as sufficient to meet the needs of one’s body.[14] It recommends that one must "eat only when one feels hungry" and "neither overeat nor eat to completely fill the capacity of one’s stomach; rather leave a quarter portion empty and fill three quarters with quality food and fresh water".[14] Verses 1.59 to 1.61 of Hathayoga Pradipika suggests ‘‘mitahara’’ regimen of a yogi avoids foods with excessive amounts of sour, salt, bitterness, oil, spice burn, unripe vegetables, fermented foods or alcohol. The practice of Mitahara, in Hathayoga Pradipika, includes avoiding stale, impure and tamasic foods, and consuming moderate amounts of fresh, vital and sattvic foods.[1]
Basically it means the philosophy that certain foods had certain gunas was "later added artificially" by the buddhists as a corruption when they took over the samkhya school.
C.The buddhist takeover of Samkhya
Some 19th and 20th century scholars suggested that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins. Richard Garbe stated in 1898, "The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence merely by means of reason. For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic but also inimical to the Veda."[29]
Surendranath Dasgupta, for example in 1922, stated, Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as Katha, Shvetashvatara and Maitrayani, and the "extant Samkhya" is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism.[31]
Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads, but later on under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism.[35]
Ruzsa in 2006,[36] for example, states, "Sāṅkhya has a very long history. Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see. The ancient Buddhist Aśvaghoṣa (in his Buddha-Carita) describes Arāḍa Kālāma, the teacher of the young Buddha (ca. 420 B.C.E.) as following an archaic form of Sāṅkhya."[36]
Buddhism and Jainism had developed in eastern India by the 5th century BCE. It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other. A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the greater emphasis on suffering (dukkha) as the foundation for their respective soteriological theories, than other Indian philosophies.[78] However, suffering appears central to Samkhya in its later literature, which suggests a likely Buddhism influence. [78]
Likewise, the Jain doctrine of plurality of individual souls (jiva) could have influenced the concept of multiple purushas in Samkhya
So it must be quite clear that the samkhya school which was essentially a school of philosophy was later hijacked by buddhists and jains and thats when all the problems began.
2.The reality before the takeover
A.In the Ramayana
Having shown to Sita the mountain-river Mandakini and gratifying her with meat, Rama sat on the mountain slope. Righteous Rama was seated in Sita’s company and remarked saying “This meat is sacred. This is savoury roasted in fire“. (Valmiki Ramayan, Ayodha Kand 96:1-2)
Being famished, Rama, Lakshmana hunted and killed a boar, a Rishya animal (a white footed male antelope), a spotted deer and a great deer with black stripes and quickly partaking the pure meat reached a tree by the evening to spend the night. (Valmiki Ramayan, Ayodha Kand 52:102)
Take rest for a while staying here. It is hoped that my husband will come and be getting from the forest plenty of meat of many kinds on killing deer, alligators and hogs.(Valmiki Ramayan, Aranya Kand 47.23)
B.In contemporary sources
“There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no Brahmin could remain a Brahmin” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3
“Odan’ (rice) mixed with meat is called ‘Mansodan’. On being asked whose meat it should be, he answers ‘Uksha’. ‘Uksha’ is used for an ox, which is capable to produce semen. Or the meat should be of a ‘Rishabh’. ‘Rishabh’ is a bull more advanced in years than an ‘Uksha’.” Adishankaracharya in his commentary on Brihadaranyak Upanishad 6/4/18
“…Lord Buddha superficially denied the authority of the Vedas. This rejection of the Vedas by Lord Buddha was adopted in order to save people from the vice of animal-killing as well as to save the poor animals from the slaughtering process of their big brothers who clamor for universal brotherhood, peace, justice and equity. There is no justice when there is animal-killing. Lord Buddha wanted to stop it completely, and therefore his cult of ahimsa was propagated not only in India but also outside the country…” Swami Prabhupada on Bhagwad Purana 1.3.24
“In what way do you see this importance of Buddhism in India today?”
“It is obvious and overwhelming. You see India never loses anything; only she takes time to turn everything into bone and muscle. Buddha dealt a blow at animal sacrifice from which India has never recovered; and Buddha said, ‘Kill no cows’, and cow-killing is an impossibility with us.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 5
“you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed. How in time it was found that as we were an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a voice was raised against the killing of cows. Sometimes we find existing then what we now consider the most horrible customs.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekandan, Volume 3
Agni Purana 279.17-21 “The asthmatic should take Kulattha, and Mudha pulse prepared with Rasna and bird’s flesh, or bird’s flesh (Viskiras) cooked with curd, pomegranate, honey, juice of Matalanga, lime, and grapes, and wheat, barley, or boiled Shali rice, with all husks and extraneous matter carefully exempted.” Tr. M.N. Dutt
Garuda Purana I.193.14-15 “Fumigating with the excreta, blood, hair or flesh of tortoise, fish, horse, buffalo, cow, jackal, monkey, cat, peacock, crow, boar, owl, fouls and swan is useful for the alleviation of the pain and disorder of the patients of fever and insanity.” Tr. J.L. Shastri
Asvalayana Grihya Sutra, IV Adhyaya, 1 Kandika, 4 Being restored health, he should offer a Soma sacrifice, or an animal sacrifice, or an ordinary sacrifice, and take his dwelling (again in the village).
Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthaanam, 27/79-80 “Cow meat is beneficial in curing breathing problems, Ozaena, Ague, dry cough, fatigue, diseases due to burns and marasmus.”
Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthaanam 8/163 “A person of magnanimous heart who eats meat along with a wine named as ‘Maadhveek’, is quickly relieved of tuberculosis.
Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sathaanam 8/165 “While consuming the above mentioned kinds of meat, one may have a dose of whichever wine is appropriate such as ‘Prasanna’, ‘Vaarooni’, ‘seedhu’, ‘arisht’, ‘aasava’ and ‘madhu’.”
Garuda Purana I.171.9-10 “On locating the fracture of a bone it shall be first washed with cold water. Then it must be plastered with clay and bound with Darbha grass. The diet of the patient must be black gram, meat, ghee, milk and a soup of gingelly seeds. Restorative and constructive diet and drink should be given to him.” Tr. J.L. Shastri
The chapter of following Garuda Purana verse is titled ‘Diseases’ which also gives instructions on how to treat those diseases,
Garuda Purana I.169.62 “Foodstuffs with cooked meat are rejuvenating…” Tr. J.L. Shastri
C.In the Vedas
Rig Veda 10.86.14 [Indra speaks:] The worshippers dress for me fifteen (and) twenty bulls : I eat them and (become) fat, they fill both sides of my belly ;Indra is above all (the world).
Atharva Veda 6.71.1 What food I eat of varied form and nature, food whether horse, sheep, goat, or bullock…
Rig Veda 1.162.2-3 What time they bear before the Courser, covered with trappings and with wealth, the grasped oblation, the dappled goat goeth straightforward, bleating, to the place dear to Indra and to Pūṣan. Dear to all Gods, this goat, the share of Pūṣan, is first led forward with the vigorous Courser, while Tvaṣṭar sends him forward with the Charger, acceptable for sacrifice, to glory.
Rig Veda 5.29.8 When thou [Indra] three hundred buffaloes’ flesh hadst eaten, and drunk, as Maghavan, three lakes of Soma, All the Gods raised as ’twere a shout of triumph to Indra praise because he slew the Dragon.
Rig Veda 10.94.3 Loudly they speak, for they have found the savoury meath: they make a humming sound over the meat prepared. As they devour the branch of the Red-coloured Tree, these, the well-pastured Bulls, have uttered bellowings
Rig Veda 10.86.13 Indra will eat thy bulls…
Rig Veda 10.27.17 The sages cooked a fat ram, they followed in succession like dice thrown in gambling….
Sankhayana Grihya Sutra 2.15.1-3 Should any one of the six persons (mentioned in the Srauta-sutra and in the Sutras 4-9) to whom the Arghya reception is due, visit (him), let him make (ready) a cow, a goat, or what (sort of food) he thinks most like (thereto). Let the Argha not be without flesh.
There's many many more but this essentially proves my point.
Sources -
1.
A.
3,7,8- Ian Whicher (1998), The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana
4- Alter, Joseph S., Yoga in modern India, 2004
5- Mikel Burley (2007). Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience
6-Alban Widgery (1930), The principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40,
9-James G. Lochtefeld, Sattva, in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, Vol. 2
B
11-Hatha Yoga Pradipika verse 1.58-63
14-KS Joshi, Speaking of Yoga and Nature-Cure Therapy
1-Steven Rosen (2011), Food for the Soul: Vegetarianism and Yoga Traditions
C
29-Richard Garbe (1892). Aniruddha's Commentary and the original parts of Vedantin Mahadeva's commentary on the Sankhya Sutras Translated, with an introduction to the age and origin of the Sankhya system
31-Surendranath Dasgupta (1975). A History of Indian Philosophy
35-Chandradhar Sharma (2000). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy
36-Ruzsa 2006.
78-Larson 1998,
1.Hijacking of the "Samkhya" school of philosophy by Buddhists and Jains
A.The theory of guna
In Samkhya philosophy, a guṇa is one of three "tendencies, qualities": sattva, rajas and tamas. This category of qualities has been widely adopted by various schools of Hinduism for categorizing behavior and natural phenomena. The three qualities are:
Sattva is the quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, universalizing, holistic, constructive, creative, building, positive attitude, luminous, serenity, being-ness, peaceful, virtuous.[3][4][5]
Rajas is the quality of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, self-centeredness, egoistic, individualizing, driven, moving, dynamic.[6][7]
Tamas is the quality of imbalance, disorder, chaos, anxiety, impure, destructive, delusion, negative, dull or inactive, apathy, inertia or lethargy, violent, vicious, ignorant.[8]
In Indian philosophy, these qualities are not considered as present in either-or fashion. Rather, everyone and everything has all three, only in different proportions and in different contexts.[9] The living being or substance is viewed as the net result of the joint effect of these three qualities.[9][6]
According to the Samkhya school, no one and nothing is either purely Sattvik or purely Rajasik or purely Tamasik.[6] One's nature and behavior is a complex interplay of all of these, with each guna in varying degrees. In some, the conduct is Rajasik with significant influence of Sattvik guna, in some it is Rajasik with significant influence of Tamasik guna, and so on.[6]
These gunas are basically related to the elements and the soul. As everyone here knows already ,all elements are already present in the soul. The process of advancement requires empowering certain elements and balancing all to achieve the state of perfect balance ,according to ones needs. This is the reason why certain meditations are uncomfortable to some people and some are not. This is the guna at play.
B.The hijacking of the Guna philosophy by the Buddhists
The application of Sattva and Tamas concepts to food is a later and relatively new extension to the Mitahara virtue in Yoga literature. Verses 1.57 through 1.63 of Hatha Yoga Pradipika[11] suggests that taste cravings should not drive one’s eating habits, rather the best diet is one that is tasty, nutritious and likable as well as sufficient to meet the needs of one’s body.[14] It recommends that one must "eat only when one feels hungry" and "neither overeat nor eat to completely fill the capacity of one’s stomach; rather leave a quarter portion empty and fill three quarters with quality food and fresh water".[14] Verses 1.59 to 1.61 of Hathayoga Pradipika suggests ‘‘mitahara’’ regimen of a yogi avoids foods with excessive amounts of sour, salt, bitterness, oil, spice burn, unripe vegetables, fermented foods or alcohol. The practice of Mitahara, in Hathayoga Pradipika, includes avoiding stale, impure and tamasic foods, and consuming moderate amounts of fresh, vital and sattvic foods.[1]
Basically it means the philosophy that certain foods had certain gunas was "later added artificially" by the buddhists as a corruption when they took over the samkhya school.
C.The buddhist takeover of Samkhya
Some 19th and 20th century scholars suggested that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins. Richard Garbe stated in 1898, "The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence merely by means of reason. For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic but also inimical to the Veda."[29]
Surendranath Dasgupta, for example in 1922, stated, Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as Katha, Shvetashvatara and Maitrayani, and the "extant Samkhya" is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism.[31]
Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads, but later on under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism.[35]
Ruzsa in 2006,[36] for example, states, "Sāṅkhya has a very long history. Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see. The ancient Buddhist Aśvaghoṣa (in his Buddha-Carita) describes Arāḍa Kālāma, the teacher of the young Buddha (ca. 420 B.C.E.) as following an archaic form of Sāṅkhya."[36]
Buddhism and Jainism had developed in eastern India by the 5th century BCE. It is probable that these schools of thought and the earliest schools of Samkhya influenced each other. A prominent similarity between Buddhism and Samkhya is the greater emphasis on suffering (dukkha) as the foundation for their respective soteriological theories, than other Indian philosophies.[78] However, suffering appears central to Samkhya in its later literature, which suggests a likely Buddhism influence. [78]
Likewise, the Jain doctrine of plurality of individual souls (jiva) could have influenced the concept of multiple purushas in Samkhya
So it must be quite clear that the samkhya school which was essentially a school of philosophy was later hijacked by buddhists and jains and thats when all the problems began.
2.The reality before the takeover
A.In the Ramayana
Having shown to Sita the mountain-river Mandakini and gratifying her with meat, Rama sat on the mountain slope. Righteous Rama was seated in Sita’s company and remarked saying “This meat is sacred. This is savoury roasted in fire“. (Valmiki Ramayan, Ayodha Kand 96:1-2)
Being famished, Rama, Lakshmana hunted and killed a boar, a Rishya animal (a white footed male antelope), a spotted deer and a great deer with black stripes and quickly partaking the pure meat reached a tree by the evening to spend the night. (Valmiki Ramayan, Ayodha Kand 52:102)
Take rest for a while staying here. It is hoped that my husband will come and be getting from the forest plenty of meat of many kinds on killing deer, alligators and hogs.(Valmiki Ramayan, Aranya Kand 47.23)
B.In contemporary sources
“There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no Brahmin could remain a Brahmin” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 3
“Odan’ (rice) mixed with meat is called ‘Mansodan’. On being asked whose meat it should be, he answers ‘Uksha’. ‘Uksha’ is used for an ox, which is capable to produce semen. Or the meat should be of a ‘Rishabh’. ‘Rishabh’ is a bull more advanced in years than an ‘Uksha’.” Adishankaracharya in his commentary on Brihadaranyak Upanishad 6/4/18
“…Lord Buddha superficially denied the authority of the Vedas. This rejection of the Vedas by Lord Buddha was adopted in order to save people from the vice of animal-killing as well as to save the poor animals from the slaughtering process of their big brothers who clamor for universal brotherhood, peace, justice and equity. There is no justice when there is animal-killing. Lord Buddha wanted to stop it completely, and therefore his cult of ahimsa was propagated not only in India but also outside the country…” Swami Prabhupada on Bhagwad Purana 1.3.24
“In what way do you see this importance of Buddhism in India today?”
“It is obvious and overwhelming. You see India never loses anything; only she takes time to turn everything into bone and muscle. Buddha dealt a blow at animal sacrifice from which India has never recovered; and Buddha said, ‘Kill no cows’, and cow-killing is an impossibility with us.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 5
“you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed. How in time it was found that as we were an agricultural race, killing the best bulls meant annihilation of the race. Therefore the practice was stopped, and a voice was raised against the killing of cows. Sometimes we find existing then what we now consider the most horrible customs.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekandan, Volume 3
Agni Purana 279.17-21 “The asthmatic should take Kulattha, and Mudha pulse prepared with Rasna and bird’s flesh, or bird’s flesh (Viskiras) cooked with curd, pomegranate, honey, juice of Matalanga, lime, and grapes, and wheat, barley, or boiled Shali rice, with all husks and extraneous matter carefully exempted.” Tr. M.N. Dutt
Garuda Purana I.193.14-15 “Fumigating with the excreta, blood, hair or flesh of tortoise, fish, horse, buffalo, cow, jackal, monkey, cat, peacock, crow, boar, owl, fouls and swan is useful for the alleviation of the pain and disorder of the patients of fever and insanity.” Tr. J.L. Shastri
Asvalayana Grihya Sutra, IV Adhyaya, 1 Kandika, 4 Being restored health, he should offer a Soma sacrifice, or an animal sacrifice, or an ordinary sacrifice, and take his dwelling (again in the village).
Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthaanam, 27/79-80 “Cow meat is beneficial in curing breathing problems, Ozaena, Ague, dry cough, fatigue, diseases due to burns and marasmus.”
Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sthaanam 8/163 “A person of magnanimous heart who eats meat along with a wine named as ‘Maadhveek’, is quickly relieved of tuberculosis.
Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Sathaanam 8/165 “While consuming the above mentioned kinds of meat, one may have a dose of whichever wine is appropriate such as ‘Prasanna’, ‘Vaarooni’, ‘seedhu’, ‘arisht’, ‘aasava’ and ‘madhu’.”
Garuda Purana I.171.9-10 “On locating the fracture of a bone it shall be first washed with cold water. Then it must be plastered with clay and bound with Darbha grass. The diet of the patient must be black gram, meat, ghee, milk and a soup of gingelly seeds. Restorative and constructive diet and drink should be given to him.” Tr. J.L. Shastri
The chapter of following Garuda Purana verse is titled ‘Diseases’ which also gives instructions on how to treat those diseases,
Garuda Purana I.169.62 “Foodstuffs with cooked meat are rejuvenating…” Tr. J.L. Shastri
C.In the Vedas
Rig Veda 10.86.14 [Indra speaks:] The worshippers dress for me fifteen (and) twenty bulls : I eat them and (become) fat, they fill both sides of my belly ;Indra is above all (the world).
Atharva Veda 6.71.1 What food I eat of varied form and nature, food whether horse, sheep, goat, or bullock…
Rig Veda 1.162.2-3 What time they bear before the Courser, covered with trappings and with wealth, the grasped oblation, the dappled goat goeth straightforward, bleating, to the place dear to Indra and to Pūṣan. Dear to all Gods, this goat, the share of Pūṣan, is first led forward with the vigorous Courser, while Tvaṣṭar sends him forward with the Charger, acceptable for sacrifice, to glory.
Rig Veda 5.29.8 When thou [Indra] three hundred buffaloes’ flesh hadst eaten, and drunk, as Maghavan, three lakes of Soma, All the Gods raised as ’twere a shout of triumph to Indra praise because he slew the Dragon.
Rig Veda 10.94.3 Loudly they speak, for they have found the savoury meath: they make a humming sound over the meat prepared. As they devour the branch of the Red-coloured Tree, these, the well-pastured Bulls, have uttered bellowings
Rig Veda 10.86.13 Indra will eat thy bulls…
Rig Veda 10.27.17 The sages cooked a fat ram, they followed in succession like dice thrown in gambling….
Sankhayana Grihya Sutra 2.15.1-3 Should any one of the six persons (mentioned in the Srauta-sutra and in the Sutras 4-9) to whom the Arghya reception is due, visit (him), let him make (ready) a cow, a goat, or what (sort of food) he thinks most like (thereto). Let the Argha not be without flesh.
There's many many more but this essentially proves my point.
Sources -
1.
A.
3,7,8- Ian Whicher (1998), The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana
4- Alter, Joseph S., Yoga in modern India, 2004
5- Mikel Burley (2007). Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience
6-Alban Widgery (1930), The principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40,
9-James G. Lochtefeld, Sattva, in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, Vol. 2
B
11-Hatha Yoga Pradipika verse 1.58-63
14-KS Joshi, Speaking of Yoga and Nature-Cure Therapy
1-Steven Rosen (2011), Food for the Soul: Vegetarianism and Yoga Traditions
C
29-Richard Garbe (1892). Aniruddha's Commentary and the original parts of Vedantin Mahadeva's commentary on the Sankhya Sutras Translated, with an introduction to the age and origin of the Sankhya system
31-Surendranath Dasgupta (1975). A History of Indian Philosophy
35-Chandradhar Sharma (2000). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy
36-Ruzsa 2006.
78-Larson 1998,
