Perspectives in Jaina Philosophy and Culture

Author(s): Satish Jain, Kamalchand Sogani
Publisher: Ahimsa International

Page 80

duced and destroyed If we take into account the death and birth of all types of cells in our body, we will be surprised to know what tremendous change goes on continuously in our body The beauty of this is that it happens very smoothly, continuously and automatically It is estimated that within 6 years all the cells of all the tissues in our body are totally changed It means that every 6th year we are totally equipped with new tissues (For example, we know that the snake casts away its skin every 6th month)
This regeneration of cells is from the food we eat
These new cells are formed from the food we eat For the formation of new cells, its constituents, namely proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, etc are required Hence we are required to have food containing all these in a proper proportion So it is very easy to understand that the quality of new tissues depends upon the quality of raw materiali e the food we eat Hence it is obvious that if we eat a sufficient quantity of good, and suitable food, our health will be good
What should we eat?
It is very interesting to note that there is a great deal of diverse opinion about what human beings should eat Plenty of literature is published and many conferences are arranged to discuss what one should eat But it is a fact that what to cat has never been a problem to other animals, insects or plants We never hear that a conference of cows, or elephants or, for that matter tigers or lions is convened to decide what they should eat The animals, excepting man, are quite steady in their natural instincts and habits for thousands of years A tiger was carnivorous (flesh-eating) one thousand years ago and it continues to be so today also A horse or an elephant was herbivorous (plant-and-plant-products-eating) one thousand years back and it continues to be so now also If a tiger is kept starving for a week or so and then if it is served with very nice and healthy green grass, it won't eat the grass The same is true of sheep If it is starved for a week and given pieces of flesh to eat, the sheep will not eat flest All animals are unchanging in their basic nature even in adverse or extreme situations They strictly follow nature's rules and hence we see that they always maintain good health
But it is not the same with human beings Man is called a special animal, as he has got the power of thinking, remembering and deciding what is right and what is wrong With this power of discrimination (1 e Viveka") he has made astounding progress in the field of engineering, medicine etc With the help of the technology that he has invented, he has been able to land on the moon, to fly like a bird in the sky and to remain in deep waters like a fish But as regards the matter of what food should be eaten, it is very surprising to see that he is confused He has not left anything, on this earth, in eating, from ants, frogs, snakes and cockroches to man And he is paying for it in the form of diseases from which he suffers
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