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6.0 Jain food & diet for householders Jain texts give detailed list of food items which are not edible and the time period for which an edible item also remains edible. The householders are further advised to seek opinion of the monks/nuns whenever in doubt
6.1 Edible foods and their shelf life13 Some of the in-edible items are given below:
i. Anything which involves killing of mobile living beings. For example meet and eggs of
any type and their products; honey; food grains and cooked foods infested with moth
Imildew and micro organism etc. ii. Anything which involves killing of large numbers of stationery (one sensed living beings).
For example root vegetables like onion, garlic, potatoes etc. iii. Anything which induces laziness or are toxic or aphrodisiac in nature. For example
alcohol in any form; tobacco; opium, heroin etc. Similarly junk food which is very
prominent today should preferably be avoided or their consumption is at least minimized iv. Anything which is even edible but not suitable for a particular individual. For example
cold water or drinks for a person suffering from cold, cough etc. v. Anything which is unknown.
Most of the plant based foods like cereals, fruits (except infested or having large colonies of micro organism in them or toxic in nature), vegetables (except root vegetables, leaf vegetables during rainy season, vegetables infested with insects) are considered edible. Milk and its products are generally considered edible but with certain limitations.
6.2 Shelf life of food items This is very important consideration for Jains concerning edibility or in-edibility of any food items. Some examples from Jain texts 14 are given below.
Water: strained water- 48 minutes; strained water with cloves added- 6 hours; boiled water-12 hours; water boiled many times - 24 hours.
13 Pravacanasāra by Kundakunda verse 3.26-30; Sūtraktänga verse 1.3.1 14 Puja Patha Pradipa, Sāmāyika kā Saundarya, compiled by Dr. Mukesh Jain
STUDY NOTES version 5.0
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