In the previous episode, we had witnessed how “modernizing” our food habits seems to backfire at us very badly in terms of newer diseases and most importantly leading to the loss of our “Sathva Guna” and in turn raising our “Rajo Guna” and the “Tamo Guna”. If we’re consuming food that is not offered to Bhagawan as “Naivedhya”, we’re going to consume an enormous amount of “toxic” substances that come along with it, which leads to all the complications that we’re seeing today. Moreover, if we’re consuming food at fast food centres and restaurants, there is a glitch here – We never know with what ingredients the food is being prepared. Moreover, the moods and emotions of the people who are making the food is also of paramount importance. We never know with what anger or frustration are these people preparing the food. These emotions would certainly enter into the food that is being prepared and served to us. If we now consume that food which contains all these bad and negative emotions, our “Rajo Guna” and “Tamo Guna” will be on the rise, and our “Sathva Guna” will reduce. This is where we start deviating from the path of “Dharma” and we start doing whatever we feel like!
Moving on further, I would also like to stress another important point which is also connected to this current discussion. I’m sure that many of us after reading through our blog page for so many months and years would have tried our level best to discontinue the habit of consuming non-vegetarian food. I’ve been stressing upon this many times earlier as well. If we’re consuming non-vegetarian food, our “Rajo Guna” and the “Tamo Guna” will always rise, which will lead us away from the direction of the spiritual path that we’re trying to take. We should understand here that all living beings have the right to lead a life in this world and we do not have any right to take away their lives, for our selfish needs. If an animal is being killed for making the non-vegetarian food item(s), there is an enormous amount of negative energy that emulates from the animal’s body as it is being tortured and killed. Just let us think of this point – Which living being in this world would want to die with all that torture and pain? If we are subjected to such treatment, how would we feel? For instance, we see a lot of cow slaughtering today and this is becoming a “trend” these days, just for the sake of maligning our “Sanaatana Dharma”. Our Hinduism worships cows as one of the most sacred animals in this world. Hence, if there should be one way to demean Hinduism, it is through cow slaughtering! However, as this slaughter happens, many times, the mother cow is killed in front of its calf! Now we must imagine here – How painful will it be for the poor calf to see its mother being slaughtered right in front of its eyes? If our mother or father is subject to such extreme cruelty in front of our eyes, will we be able to tolerate it? Definitely not! If such is the case, how will the poor animal tolerate it? Just because these poor animals cannot talk or raise their voice against such cruelty, will we stoop to such low levels for fulfilling our selfish motives? We’ve to think along these lines, and if we do so, we will automatically stop consuming non-vegetarian food items!
Thus, the reason why I’m repeatedly highlighting this point is that, when we talk of “Aahaara Shuddhi”, our food should be of the “Saathvika Aahaara” type. If we consume all these stupid non-vegetarian food items, we’re never going to walk the path of spiritual growth. Of course, I understand that these habits aren’t easy for us to come out of. I’m sure many of us are trying hard as well. However, there will always be this peer pressure and family pressure to continue consuming non-vegetarian food. We should develop “Vairaagya” (Will Power) to discard all that peer pressure and overcome the habit. If all of us develop that pledge, the world would become a much safer place for all the living beings to live peacefully, isn’t it? More than just the “Saathvika Aahaara” part, let us also think along the lines of global peace and harmony, wherein all living beings should be able to lead a life without tears in their eyes! Isn’t that responsibility ours, as ardent followers of our “Sanaathana Dharma”? Hence for today, let us give this a serious thought and for those of us who are still trying to come out of the habit of consuming non-vegetarian food, let us take a pledge today to somehow relieve ourselves from this! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further with what Mudgala replied to Sage Dhurvasa! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 