<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Though literal translation of anna = rice, in some communities (especially mine) anna is loosely used for meal.
[right][snapback]73179[/snapback][/right]
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anna literally means any food, and not only rice. Literal term for rice in Sanskrit would be odanam/tandulam. Since rice is the primary food, in many regions, anna has come to mean rice in those regional languages. Hindi 'anaaj' is a derivative of anna and it means any harvested seed.
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Can Dushasana and Duryodhana's behaviour rationalized by impure food they ate?[right][snapback]73179[/snapback][/right]
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no Virenji, not rationalization. But there is a connection.
It is very well known that Thoughs beget Actions, repeated actions make habits/tendencies, and habits/tendencies over a period of time become natural spontanuous behaviour. So, thoughts in the mind, are the seed. In Yoga Sutra terminology, chitta vRtti.
As per this, chtta-vRtti keep fluctuating from one to the other, in the jAgrat (and swapna) conditions of chetan. And the dominant vRtti defines what we are from inside. Some have said that even from outside, our dominant vRtti defines how we behave (and some have gone so far as to say that even one's physical appearance). It is generally understood that whatever is ones dominant vRtti at the time prAna leave the gross body ('death') - AtmA gets a suitable new gross body fit for that vRtti.
So what influences the Chitta-vRtti-s? Many factors. Bhagwan Patanjali has spent good number of sUtra-s to explain this. Broadly, some factors are internal - called mala and AvaraNa (due to many things like pUrva-sanskAra and prakriti), while some other factors are external.
External factors are known as 'AhAra' - literally 'in-put' - (the term generally has come to be understood as 'food', though it is more than just food). So AhAra part of the influence to chitta-vRtti - inputs - can come from various sources - what we read, what we listen, where we live, where we spend our time, in whose company we live (from outside and inside), and VERY IMPORTANT, the food-intake.
There is a sUkta from chhAndogya upaniSad about this.
AhAra Suddhau sat-buddhiH satvaSuddho dhruvAsmRtiH
smriti labhye sarva granthInAm vipramokShaH
(Chh. Up. 7/26/2)
{ pure AhAra (intake includig food) gives sadbuddhi. That when purifies gives dhruva-smRti (stable, "polar", memory)......ultimately liberation. }
........
So now, various spriritual leaders throughout the ages and everywhere, have laid emphasis upon right eating. There are many things that go with 'right', but certainly non-vegetarian is not generaly included in that 'right'. Needless to say, meat can, yes, be Apad-bhojan, food of emergence, when the situation so demands, and as shown by Puranas through various examples like that of Vishwamitra. But as the normal general healthy food, that our shastras and saints recommend 'starts' with vegetarian.
(This is why I had earlier said I was surprised to read Swami Vivekananda's words - since that came as a very strong exception to what I had seen so far.)
.........
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bodhi,
As for whether Bheeshma was referring to non-vegetarian food being offered in Duryodhana's home (and even then of Bheeshma ever partaking of it), I can't make it out from those statements pasted in #105. All that's mentioned in my understanding of that translation is "impure" food. I thought he could merely be talking of certain vegetables considered illicit in those days, or over-spiced foods<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Husky, you are right - it does not say about veg/non-veg. But the sense of the statement is different in that context. There are other attributes of a 'pure' food. Like it must be 'earned' well. It must be cooked and served with right bhAva. It must not have come from a duSit person's home or cooked or served by such persons. ... so on.
Some stories might help.
We all know about this story of Guru Nanak. While traveling through some village, the Guru stayed at the house of a person called Bhai Lalo, an honest man. Malik Bhago, a rich landlord of the village was giving a feast. He invited all including Guru Nanak to join in the feast. The Guru declined the invitation. This infuriated the rich man, who specifically sent for Nanak, and Nanak finally went to his house. Rich man insisted to know why Guru reused to take food at his house, while he was fine to eat in the house of the poor man Lalo. Guru asked both the men to bring a roti each from their houses. Then taking one roti in each hands, he squeezed those both. From the roti of Lalo oozed out milk, while from the bread of Bhago, blood. Then he explained that the food 'pure' - earned well - by Lalo, and not so by Bhago, and that is why he refused to eat Bhago's food.
==========
In Mahabharata itself, there is very good story. Just before the war is to begin, Krishna goes to Hastinapur as the messenger of peace, on behalf of pandava-s, and is received as the royal guest by kauava-s. Duryodhana and brothers in their ego were trying to show off their wealth etc., and had arranged all kinds of food for Krishna. While Krishna follows all the code of conduct as suitable to an ambessador and as royal guest, but that is except for taking their food. Krishna refused to eat Duryodhan's food, and instead went to the house of Vidur uninvited, and ate the banana-peels from the hands of the devoted vidurANI.
==========
There is another relevant story. Those familiar with Arya Samaj's tradition might be knowing about a great Arya Samaj leader from Delhi/Punjab - Swami Anand. The time was before independence, and Swami's own son was a freedom fighter, a companion of Rajendra Lahiri etc. He was arrested and sentanced for death punishment. He was spending his last days (month or two) in one of the Delhi's jails. Swamiji was allowed to visit his son every day, so he used to teach him Bhagvad Gita and meditation during this time.
Swami wrote in his memoirs, that one day he went to visit his son and son was very worried and sad. He though it was because he was afraid to die. But when he asked him why, son told a different thing. Son told him that for the last two nights he had been having very strange dreams and remained disturbed even in meditation. In the dream he saw that he was killing his beloved mother very ghastely and cruelly.
Swami then inquired about a few things with the jail superintendant and learnt that the staff for cooking had been recently changed. He learnt that the food for the death-row detainees was cooked by a new prisoner that had arrived. Upon inquiring he learnt that this new prisoner was sentanced for life, for having stabbed and killed his own mother.
So he wrote in memoirs that, the thoughts of the cook were carried into the chitta of his son who ate the food. Through his son, he requested the jailer to kindly allow food from home for his son.
========
In my opinion, the "impurity" Bhisma is reffering to might be of this kind, rather than just veg/non-veg/junk etc.
[right][snapback]73179[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
anna literally means any food, and not only rice. Literal term for rice in Sanskrit would be odanam/tandulam. Since rice is the primary food, in many regions, anna has come to mean rice in those regional languages. Hindi 'anaaj' is a derivative of anna and it means any harvested seed.
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 15 2007, 05:13 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Can Dushasana and Duryodhana's behaviour rationalized by impure food they ate?[right][snapback]73179[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
no Virenji, not rationalization. But there is a connection.
It is very well known that Thoughs beget Actions, repeated actions make habits/tendencies, and habits/tendencies over a period of time become natural spontanuous behaviour. So, thoughts in the mind, are the seed. In Yoga Sutra terminology, chitta vRtti.
As per this, chtta-vRtti keep fluctuating from one to the other, in the jAgrat (and swapna) conditions of chetan. And the dominant vRtti defines what we are from inside. Some have said that even from outside, our dominant vRtti defines how we behave (and some have gone so far as to say that even one's physical appearance). It is generally understood that whatever is ones dominant vRtti at the time prAna leave the gross body ('death') - AtmA gets a suitable new gross body fit for that vRtti.
So what influences the Chitta-vRtti-s? Many factors. Bhagwan Patanjali has spent good number of sUtra-s to explain this. Broadly, some factors are internal - called mala and AvaraNa (due to many things like pUrva-sanskAra and prakriti), while some other factors are external.
External factors are known as 'AhAra' - literally 'in-put' - (the term generally has come to be understood as 'food', though it is more than just food). So AhAra part of the influence to chitta-vRtti - inputs - can come from various sources - what we read, what we listen, where we live, where we spend our time, in whose company we live (from outside and inside), and VERY IMPORTANT, the food-intake.
There is a sUkta from chhAndogya upaniSad about this.
AhAra Suddhau sat-buddhiH satvaSuddho dhruvAsmRtiH
smriti labhye sarva granthInAm vipramokShaH
(Chh. Up. 7/26/2)
{ pure AhAra (intake includig food) gives sadbuddhi. That when purifies gives dhruva-smRti (stable, "polar", memory)......ultimately liberation. }
........
So now, various spriritual leaders throughout the ages and everywhere, have laid emphasis upon right eating. There are many things that go with 'right', but certainly non-vegetarian is not generaly included in that 'right'. Needless to say, meat can, yes, be Apad-bhojan, food of emergence, when the situation so demands, and as shown by Puranas through various examples like that of Vishwamitra. But as the normal general healthy food, that our shastras and saints recommend 'starts' with vegetarian.
(This is why I had earlier said I was surprised to read Swami Vivekananda's words - since that came as a very strong exception to what I had seen so far.)
.........
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bodhi,
As for whether Bheeshma was referring to non-vegetarian food being offered in Duryodhana's home (and even then of Bheeshma ever partaking of it), I can't make it out from those statements pasted in #105. All that's mentioned in my understanding of that translation is "impure" food. I thought he could merely be talking of certain vegetables considered illicit in those days, or over-spiced foods<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Husky, you are right - it does not say about veg/non-veg. But the sense of the statement is different in that context. There are other attributes of a 'pure' food. Like it must be 'earned' well. It must be cooked and served with right bhAva. It must not have come from a duSit person's home or cooked or served by such persons. ... so on.
Some stories might help.
We all know about this story of Guru Nanak. While traveling through some village, the Guru stayed at the house of a person called Bhai Lalo, an honest man. Malik Bhago, a rich landlord of the village was giving a feast. He invited all including Guru Nanak to join in the feast. The Guru declined the invitation. This infuriated the rich man, who specifically sent for Nanak, and Nanak finally went to his house. Rich man insisted to know why Guru reused to take food at his house, while he was fine to eat in the house of the poor man Lalo. Guru asked both the men to bring a roti each from their houses. Then taking one roti in each hands, he squeezed those both. From the roti of Lalo oozed out milk, while from the bread of Bhago, blood. Then he explained that the food 'pure' - earned well - by Lalo, and not so by Bhago, and that is why he refused to eat Bhago's food.
==========
In Mahabharata itself, there is very good story. Just before the war is to begin, Krishna goes to Hastinapur as the messenger of peace, on behalf of pandava-s, and is received as the royal guest by kauava-s. Duryodhana and brothers in their ego were trying to show off their wealth etc., and had arranged all kinds of food for Krishna. While Krishna follows all the code of conduct as suitable to an ambessador and as royal guest, but that is except for taking their food. Krishna refused to eat Duryodhan's food, and instead went to the house of Vidur uninvited, and ate the banana-peels from the hands of the devoted vidurANI.
==========
There is another relevant story. Those familiar with Arya Samaj's tradition might be knowing about a great Arya Samaj leader from Delhi/Punjab - Swami Anand. The time was before independence, and Swami's own son was a freedom fighter, a companion of Rajendra Lahiri etc. He was arrested and sentanced for death punishment. He was spending his last days (month or two) in one of the Delhi's jails. Swamiji was allowed to visit his son every day, so he used to teach him Bhagvad Gita and meditation during this time.
Swami wrote in his memoirs, that one day he went to visit his son and son was very worried and sad. He though it was because he was afraid to die. But when he asked him why, son told a different thing. Son told him that for the last two nights he had been having very strange dreams and remained disturbed even in meditation. In the dream he saw that he was killing his beloved mother very ghastely and cruelly.
Swami then inquired about a few things with the jail superintendant and learnt that the staff for cooking had been recently changed. He learnt that the food for the death-row detainees was cooked by a new prisoner that had arrived. Upon inquiring he learnt that this new prisoner was sentanced for life, for having stabbed and killed his own mother.
So he wrote in memoirs that, the thoughts of the cook were carried into the chitta of his son who ate the food. Through his son, he requested the jailer to kindly allow food from home for his son.
========
In my opinion, the "impurity" Bhisma is reffering to might be of this kind, rather than just veg/non-veg/junk etc.