In the West, most people who call themselves vegetarian eat eggs and fish. The amusing Australian term, vegaquarian, might be more accurate. Vegans reject all animal products including milk however, in India, the country which has more vegetarians than all the world put together, classifications are simply 'Veg', 'Pure Veg' and 'Non-Veg'.
The Vedic scriptures of India, containing knowledge which has been passed down from generation to generation since time immemorial, outline a 'yogi diet'. According to the principle that 'you are what you eat', food is not regarded as simply nourishing for the body, but it also has the effect of either purifying or contaminating the soul.
Vedic philosophy states that material manifestation is under the influence of three qualities of nature: sattva guna (goodness), rajo guna (passion) and tamo guna (ignorance). Every being possesses a combination of these qualities in varying degrees.
By eliminating external rajasic and tamasic influences, one may become established in the mode of goodness, a better position from which to reach the nirguna (transcendental) plane, or highest spritual plane of consciousness.
In practical terms, this means that food is also categorised according to the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, and only sattvic foods should be consumed.
For example, meat and fish are considered both rajasic and tamasic. By eating an animal's flesh one acquires passionate animal instinct unsubdued by intelligence. It is tamasic because one is considered to be feeding on a corpse. Since the innate nature of some persons makes them unable to give up meat, then the animal killing should be sanctified by a ritualistic sacrifice (similar to Jewish and Muslim traditions).
The Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important sections of the Veda, states: "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones." Animal bodies and human bodies are considered different coverings of qualitatively similar individual entities.
Eggs are also tamasic – they are considered a waste product of nature as life did not begin. People who do not eat meat but consume eggs are still considered vegetarian. However pure-vegetarians will not eat eggs, yet will consume milk-products. Therefore not all animal products are rejected. In fact you will rarely find a vegan in India.
Milk is sattvic – a mother's nutrition for her baby dominated by an energy of giving without expectations. Not only that, but the cow is considered so generous that her milk can feed almost any other species, young or old.
Milk is used to make butter, ghee (clarified butter), curd, paneer (cheese) and milk sweets, and is an essential source of nutrition in a pure-vegetarian diet. For this reason the cow is protected, even revered, in India.
Fruits, grains, and vegetables contain no cholesterol, so a pure-vegetarian could drink a litre of milk and eat a few grams of cheese every day without exceeding the maximum recommended allowance of cholesterol. Without milk consumption, large amounts of algae, seaweed, sesame seeds, or pills may be required to obtain essential vitamin B-12 and calcium.
Furthermore, not all vegetables are suitable for consumption, states the Veda. Onions and garlic create heat in the body, stimulating the lower root and sexual chakras (there are seven energy centres in the body), thus they are considered rajasic. Mushrooms grow in darkness and are therefore considered tamasic.
All intoxication, such as cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, alter the original state of consciousness, therefore they too are tamasic. Even coffee, tea and chocolate should ideally be avoided.
The Vedic system classes food as raw or cooked food. Raw food, however, indicates food boiled in water such as flat bread, daal (lentils), rice and ordinary vegetables; whereas cooked food is prepared with ghee (or oil). Grains, lentils, pulses, vegetables, fruits, nuts, ghee, milk and yogurt may be used as ingredients for thousands of recipes.
With regards to health issues, a balanced vegetarian diet lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels, eliminates the dangerous chemical residues in meat, increases energy and slows aging. It also reduces high-calorie protein foods in the diet by fifty percent, and is the oldest, most natural way to lose weight.
Controlled vegetarian diets easily provide all the important vitamins and minerals, as well as protein, fiber, fat, and carbohydrates. Protein is present in beans, pulses and nuts in far higher quantities per gram than meat.
Daal (a lentil preparation), for example, besides being a good source of iron and B vitamins, is an excellent source of vegetable protein. When you combine daal with a food that has complementary protein, like grains, seeds, nuts, or milk products, a synergistic reaction occurs, and the usable protein in daal increases by as much as 40%. A ¾ cup of daal with 2 cups of rice is the equivalent of a 9½-ounce steak, without the worry about cholesterol and calories!
Furthermore, environmental aspects (resources required to grow one acre of wheat are far less than an acre set aside for animal pasture, and produces at least five times more protein), ethical issues (animal rights; starvation in underdeveloped countries), health issues (as outlined above), biological evidence (there is increasing evidence that a human body is better suited for chewing and digesting vegetables than meat) and financial benefits (meat provides less protein than lentils and beans per gram, but costs much more) are all valid considerations, but according to the Veda, the ultimate goal of life is self-realisation and God-consciousness.
One Indian guru would challenge the proud vegetarian: "Monkeys are vegetarians. Pigeons are vegetarians. So to become vegetarian is not a very good credit. We are neither vegetarian nor non-vegetarian. We are transcendental. We are concerned with krishna-prasadam (food prepared for the Supreme Lord)."
According to the Veda, there is also nature's law of karma - whereby what goes around comes around – to consider. Vegetarian foods such as fruits, nuts, milk, and grains do not require any killing. But clearly, there is a vast difference between pulling a carrot out of the ground and killing a lamb, because the nervous system and level of consciousness in the carrot is much less developed.
“The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.” Bhagavad Gita (3.13)
In Vedic tradition, food prepared according to the strict guidelines is offered to the Lord during a Puja ceremony in the same way as a host is blessed during a Christian Mass. Afterwards, the food is consumed as remnants known as prasadam, or mercy of the Lord.
Furthermore, a fortnightly fast known as Ekadasi is observed in accordance with the phases of the moon. Devotees abstain from grains, beans and pulses for twenty-four hours as a sacrifice purifying both the body and the soul.
All is a reminder that food is provided by God and not by man.
Recommended reading:
The Higher Taste by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (New-2003)
Srimad Bhagavad Gita As It Is