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WHEN TO EAT ? ( ENSURE OF EATING AFTER SUNSET)
The third question is - when to eat? From the point of view of ahiṁsā food should be eaten only during the day and not during the night. The main reason for this censure is that there are more chances of causing harm to beings when we eat during the night. Small insects and microorganisms are destroyed by sunlight during the day but during the night they are created again. They are harmful for health. Sunrays dehydrate microorganisms like bacteria and reduce their natural potency of infecting. Besides this the bacteria and virus present in atmosphere are either destroyed or the heat and ultra-violet rays emitted by the sun?' reduce their infective capacity.
The censure of eating during the night, indeed, has spiritual and religious basis but besides that it is also good for health. Ayurvedic books (Indian medicine) advise that one should not sleep immediately after meals28. One should sleep at least three hours after meals?'. This is possible only when meals are taken during the day. During the night there is an abundance of toxic creatures and microorganisms moving about. There are chances that these fall into the food and contaminate it. There have been instances of food poisoning due to falling of a lizard in the food.
Hindu scriptures have also at many places censured eating during the night but in Jain tradition censure of eating during the night has been given the same importance as renouncing alcohol, meat, and hunting. That is the reason that this belief continues to prevail among Jains. Jains avoid eating after sunset so much so that it has become a basis of recognition for Jains.
FILTERING WATER
Harming beings can be avoided by drinking filtered water. It is good for health as well. Therefore, drinking water after filtering is useful both from the religious as well as health angle. A single drop of water has innumerable beings. Jain as well as Hindu scriptures mention that a dorp of water has so many beings that if they enlarge to the size of a bumblebee and start flying they will fill the whole cosmos.0. Therefore, drink filtered water only?. Water should be filtered with a doubled piece of coarse cloth. The residue or the beings caught in the
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