Vegetarianism Scientific And Spiritual Basis

Author(s): Jashwant B Mehta
Publisher: Jashwant B Mehta

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(e) Religious / Spiritual aspect
Religion is probably the most important reason that supports and protects vegetarianism in India. All the major Indian religions-Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism preach, in greater or lesser degrees, ahinsa (non-violence) and reverence for all life as the sacred principles to be adhered to in the conduct of life. Hinduism
"Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentiment beings is detrimental to the attainment of heavenly bliss: let him therefore shun the use of meat." "Having well considered the disgusting origin of flesh and the cruelty of fettering and slaying of corporeal beings, let him entirely abstain from eating flesh."
- Manu -Samhita (The Vedic scripture of India)
“The heart of the man that tasteth flesh turneth not towards good, even as the heart of him that is armed with steel".
- Saint Tiruvalluvar A large segment of Hindu community especially the Brahmins and Vaishnavs are predominantly vegetarians. Even among the followers of Sikh religion, there is Nirankari sect which is strictly vegetarian. Among the Kshatriyas – a martial community - which mainly constituted the ruling class in Hindu community, non-vegetarian diet is quite common as it was supposed to give more strength and energy required for fighting a battle whereas by and large the Brahmins and Vaishnavs, the other major communities in Hindus involved in other trades and professions are vegetarian. As far as vegetarian food is concerned, no other country provides such a choice of exquisite vegetable cuisine as found in India.
Well-known Tamil poet & sage (around 200 B.C.) 2 While Islam has forbidden pork, all sects of Hindus exclude beef on religious grounds. However, the considerations seem to be more out of respect for the tremendous services provided by the cow family including the bull. Apart from providing milk, the cowdung has been widely used for manure and due to its antiseptic properties many of the rural houses in India still use cow-dung for floor finish. Bullocks have been doing all the hard work for the rural population in India including tilling of the farms and bullock-cart is still one of the important modes of transport in villages. Undoubtedly, no other animal has served rural India more than the cow family and as such it is looked upon with reverence. It is also now well established that cow-urine has also lot of medicinal properties.