Excerpts from Vegetarianism in India of www.indianchild.com
Hindu scripture speaks in favour of vegetarianism. The roots of vegetarianism in India are found in the Vedas, Upanishads, Dharma Shastras, Yoga Sutras, and most sacred texts of Hindus.
Atharva Veda Samhita
Those noble souls who practice meditation and other yogic ways, who are ever careful about all beings, who protect all animals, are the ones who are actually serious about spiritual practices.
Mahabharata
The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it -all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.
Tirukural
How can he practice true compassion who eats the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh?
Riches cannot be found in the hands of the thriftless. Nor can compassion be found in the hearts of those who eat meat.
If the world did not purchase and consume meat, there would be none to slaughter and offer meat for sale.
Greater than a thousand ghee offerings consumed in sacrificial fires is to not sacrifice and consume any living creature.
All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat.
Excerpts from Vegetarianism in Ancient India of www.bhantedhammika.net
The first evidence for any type of vegetarianism comes from ancient Greece and India. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras (570-495 BCE) advocated vegetarianism and at around the same time in India, Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was also advocating vegetarianism. Despite popular perceptions to the contrary, the Buddha, a younger contemporary of Mahavira, was not a vegetarian and did not explicitly insist on its practice in any of his teachings.
Since its very beginning Buddhism has rejected the idea of ritual impurity, maintaining that it is immoral thought, speech and actions that make one impure. The Amagandha Sutta says; “Being rough, devoid of kindness, back-biting, careless of friends, heartless, arrogant, mean, sharing with no one, this is impure food, not the eating of meat. To be immoral, refuse to repay one’s debts, betray others, cheat in business and create divisions amongst people, this is impure food, not the eating of meat. To kill living beings, steal, harm others, be immoral, cruel, hard and disrespectful, this is impure food, not the eating of meat.” (Sutta Nipata 244-6).
When the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang (602–664) was in India he made careful and extensive notes on the beliefs and practices of Indian Buddhists but makes no mention of them being vegetarian. He noted that people ate meat and that the most important thing was not whether one was vegetarian or not but what kind of meat one ate. Those who ate beef or animals considered impure (dogs, monkeys, pigs, donkeys) were treated as outcasts. About a century after Hsuan Tsang another Chinese monk, I-Tsing, stayed in India for several decades and wrote a detailed account of Indian Buddhist monastic rules and regulations. He too made no mention of vegetarianism.
What about Indian society in general? The evidence shows that from its very beginning Jainism was strongly vegetarian and has been so ever since. There is no evidence that Brahmanism, the main religion during the Buddha’s time, taught vegetarianism. Vedic sacrifices in which animals were slaughtered were still being practiced and are frequently mentioned in the Tipitaka (e.g. Anguttara Nikaya I,66; II,42; IV,41; etc). It records one particular sacrifice conducted by a brahman named Uggatasarira during which “five hundred bulls, five hundred steers and numerous heifers, goats and rams were brought to the sacrificial post for slaughter” (A.IV,41). The meat of sacrificed animals was eaten by the officiating priests afterward.
The Arthasastra (3rd–2nd century BCE) says that that the government should appoint a superintendent of slaughterhouses, probably to make sure they were efficiently run (As.II,26-7). It also recommends that anyone killing a calf, bull or milch cow be fined 50 panas, not because this was considered cruel but because it was economically undesirable (As.II,26-11).
The Manusmrti, the most authoritative Hindu law book (2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE), mentions that meat is a suitable offering for the ancestors, that the sacred scriptures should not be recited immediately after eating meat, and that during times of hardship it is even acceptable to eat dog meat, usually thought of as exceptionally impure. One whole section of the Manusmrti (5,27-57) lays down the rules concerning the procuring, preparing and consuming of fish and flesh. The justification for meat-eating is summed up in these words; “The eater is not defiled by eating living beings suitable for eating, even if he eats them day after day. For the Creator himself made both the eater and the living beings to eat.”(5,30).
Both the two great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata often refer to eating meat as normal and uncontroversial, as indeed it was. In his detailed study of everyday life as depicted in the Ramayana Ananda Guruge writes; “The Aryans of ancient India were not altogether vegetarians. Their diet was a mixed one; they ate fish as was offered to Bharata and his party by Guha. Meat too was consumed quite widely. Not only did Rama say that animals are killed by men for their flesh but he also killed many animals – deer, wild boar, antelope, etc., – for food during his sojourn in the forest. Meat was eaten with relish and a verse which describes a meal of Rama and Sita states; ‘He sat on a rock tempting Sita with meat (saying) this is pure, this is tasty and this is well cooked by fire.’ In Bharadvaja’s hermitage Bharata’s army was supplied with venison, mutton, pork and flesh of the peacock and the snipe.
Although the Vanaras are generally depicted as vegetarians, the Brahmans were actually not. The concept that ‘a purely vegetarian diet is an indication of spiritual progress and an advanced culture’ is a later development in India. Even ascetic Brahmans were not strict vegetarians. Although their usual fare consisted of vegetables, they did not abstain from meat-eating as a principle of either religious or social significance.
In the chapter on food the Sushruta Samhita (1st–4th century CE) recommends all kinds of fish, bird and animal flesh thereby showing that meat eating was acceptable during that period. This and a great deal of other evidence shows that like Buddhists, Hindus were primarily meat eaters, although there was always some in favor of vegetarianism. After the Gupta period Hindu text like some of the Puranas and the literature of the Bhagavatas start teaching abstaining from meat. It was probably only after the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries that vegetarianism started to become widespread in India. The reasons for this may have been developments in theology and philosophy, changing economic conditions, or the desire of Indians to distinguish themselves from Muslims invaders.
From Vegetarianism by country – Wikipedia
India is ranked top in the world with 31% of her total population being vegetarian but she is a majority non-vegetarian nation.
From What India really eats of ‘The Wire‘
The extent of overall vegetarianism [in India] is much less than common claims and stereotypes suggest; survey estimates show that between 23% and 37% of the population of India is vegetarian. Thus, far from being a vegetarian nation, India is a meat-eating majority nation.
There is considerable variability within social groups, trumping all stereotyped characterisations, especially those based on religion and caste. This, therefore, also complicates generalised characterisations of ‘India’ based on meaningless averages.
Apart from Jains (overwhelmingly vegetarian) and Sikhs (majority vegetarian), no other religious category is majority vegetarian. Hindus – by far the largest group in the population – are majority meat-eaters. Turning to government mega-caste categories, incidence of vegetarianism is least among STs, but closely followed by SCs, and it is higher among OBCs and highest among non-SC/ST/OBCs. Further, we see immense variation even among Brahmins, with only two-thirds of Brahmins and one-third of ‘forward castes’ being vegetarian – much lower than stereotypes would have it.
Non-vegetarian restaurant in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry
Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were not vegetarians even though they mostly had vegetarian food. The Mother had allowed eggs to be served to the Ashram school students. According to her those used to taking non-veg food may become physically weak if it is suddenly stopped. There was a non-vegetarian restaurant run by the Ashram, perhaps the only Ashram in India to do so, for visitors and guests more than half a century ago. She said she wanted to provide non-vegetarian food for the Ashramites also but gave up the idea due to problems of hygiene and cost.
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