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V. K. JAIN : MEAT EATING BY THE EARLY JAINS
201 The Susrutasaṁhitā delineates the qualities of Parapat as pārāpataṁ sumadhurań rucayamatyagni vātanuta etc.
"majjāra” or mārjāra also has a number of plant/herbal meanings, the prominent being lavang & rakta chitra. The Vaidyaka Shabda Sindhu describes the qualities of lavang as
lavarga katukam tiktam laghu netrahitaṁ himam/dipanam, pācanam rucya kapha pittāmla nāšakyta.
Similarly, Raja Nighantu (6/46) gives the qualities of rakta citrak as
kālo vyālaḥ kālamūlodadidipyo mārjāro'gnidāhaka pāvakaśca citrāngodayam raktacitro mahāngaḥ.
Now let us look at the words kukkudamamsayı: The herbal/ plant meanings of kukkuda include “the 'bijora' fruit and 'shitivara'. A synonym of kukkuda is "sunishannaka". The Bhāvaprakash describes the same as follows:
kukkuda sunișanne himagrāhi moha dosa tryāpahaḥ avidāhī, laghu svādu kaśāyo rukșa dipana.
The word māmsa is extensively used in the Ayurveda for the pulp or flesh of fruits and vegetables. The Background
Now let us look at the back in which the controversial passage was used. Lord Mahāvīra was struck by the burning rays of ‘tejoleshya' unleashed by Goshālaka. Goshālaka himself got incinerated by the heat but it left Mahāvīra also sick and afflicted by (i) pitta jwar, (ii) rakta pitta (iii) dāh & (iv) rakta atisara.
All these diseases and symptom. were caused by the intense radiation and resulted in fever, bleeding, dysentery, external and internal heat effects. Under the circumstances, what type of medicinal preparation could be useful to Mahāvīra ? In the Ayurvedic literature, the nature of meat and flesh is given as :
snigdha, uşņa, sușka, makta, pitta janaka vātāharam etc."
It's obvious that such a recipe is totally contra-indicated on would aggravate the disease. The description of the nature and quali:
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