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Scientific Secrets of Jainism
for ten or fifteen days after the butter is taken out of whey and then make ghee out of it. Many years ago, it was seen in the kitchen of a Jain gentleman in a city of south India that one afternoon when a cook began to a vessel three or four big lumps of butter covered in a black piece of cloth, the butter began to melt and micro-organisms like larva appeared in it. Therefore, the ghee so made, is unfit to be eaten. But now-a-days there are machines which directly extract ghee (fat) from milk. Also, cream of milk is accumulated. It is heated and ghee is made. Ghee thus made is, therefore, fit to be eaten.
Scientifically speaking . ghee, oil etc. are in reality a kind of fat which is necessary in body-machine for heat and energy. In the body, it burns and produces energy that activates all other parts of body. If a man takes more than necessary ghee, milk, curds etc. the surplus fat gathers under skin and when for some reason or another a man does not get food or when he observes fast etc. as a penance, the fat gathered under the skin, burns and produces energy. Every man, therefore, should take ghee, milk etc. only in a limited quantity
4. Oil
As out of many kinds of milk, curds etc., only four or five are regarded as Vigais, so Jain scripturists regard four kinds of oils as Vigais: 1. of sesame seeds, 2. oil of lin seeds, 3. oil of rape seeds, 4. oil kusumbha (kind of plant or grass i.e. carthamus tinctorius). The remaining other oils are not regarded as Vigais." But ground nut oil, coconut oil etc. should be regarded as Vigais. In the times when these books were written probably most of the people mostly used only these oils in food and perhaps they did not even think of using the remaining oils. That is why the author has included only these oils in the list of Vigais.
The oil of sesame seeds makes the body strong and stimulates digestion. Rubbing the oil body with it, makes the skin and eyes better. Those who take sesame oil in food, do not suffer from paralysis. The oil of rape-seeds cures gas and mucus, balances their proportion and also removes intestinal worms. Rubbing the body with it, removes the dryness of the skin and makes the skin strong, smooth and tender. The groundnut oil controls mucus."
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