| BEING VEGETARIAN - Philosphy behind | | | | sacred texts of Hindus. |
| Vegetarian, the belief in and practice of eating | | | | The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by |
| exclusively vegetable foods and abstaining from any | | | | his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its |
| form of animal food. Food plays a major role and | | | | taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing |
| forms the essence in the practice of Religion in India. | | | | the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he |
| During the ancient Aryan Vedic period meat was | | | | who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the |
| consumed after animal sacrifice to the Gods. This | | | | limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or |
| slowly changed with the rise of Jainism and Buddhisim, | | | | cooks flesh and eats it -all of these are to be |
| since their founders advocated the principle of ahimsa | | | | considered meat-eaters. |
| or ''non-violence''. The Brahman priests, who used to | | | | ~Mahabharata, |
| exploit the people and advocated animal sacrifices as | | | | He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating |
| offerings in the name of religion, also began to preach | | | | the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever |
| Vegeterianism since it gained much popularity in India. | | | | species he may take his birth. |
| They began to embrace Vegeterianism by following a | | | | ~Mahabharata, |
| vegetarian diet themselves. However due to this | | | | Those who are ignorant of real dharma and, though |
| constant exploitation of the people, these Brahmin | | | | wicked and haughty, account themselves virtuous, kill |
| priests soon began losing their status and respect in | | | | animals without any feeling of remorse or fear of |
| the society, which once placed them in the highest | | | | punishment. Further, in their next lives, such sinful |
| strata. | | | | persons will be eaten by the same creatures they |
| Factors involved in Vegetarianism in India today are : (1) | | | | have killed in this world. |
| Religious or ethical beliefs; and (b) Income | | | | ~ Shrimad Bhagavatam |
| considerations or poverty | | | | One should never do that to another which one |
| Rural Indian food in India is often vegetarian. Food | | | | regards as injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is |
| items like roots, cereals, pulses, wheat, rice, form the | | | | the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting |
| main portion of the diets. Many Indians, being farmers, | | | | differently, one becomes guilty of adharma. |
| find it cost-economical to stick to a vegeterian diet. | | | | ~Mahabharata |
| Indian Scriptures Against Killing and Meat-Eating. | | | | Those high souled persons who desire beauty, |
| Hindu scripture speaks in favour of vegetarianism. The | | | | faultlessness of limbs, long life, mental & physical |
| roots of vegeteriansim in India are found in the Vedas, | | | | strength and memory should abstain from any acts of |
| Upanishads, Dharma Shastras, Yoga Sutras and most | | | | injury. |