Saturday, October 18, 2008

Food! For the Good, the Passionate and the Ignorant.

Shri Krishna classifies nature into three forms in the Bhagvada Gita: the good, the passionate and the ignorant. And in Chap. 17,.. classifies food, sacrifice, prayer, etc. into the three. Here is what the Bhagvada Gita talks on food.


आयुः-सत्त्व-बलारोग्य-
सुखा-प्रीटी-विवार्धनाह
रस्याः स्निग्धः स्थिर ह्रदय
अहरह सात्त्विका-प्रियः।

"Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart."


कतव-अमला-लावानाटी-उसना-
तिक्सना-रुक्सा-विदाहिनाह
अहारा राजसस्येस्ता
दुह्ख-सोकामय-प्रदाह।

"Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease."


१०

यता-यमं गता-रसम
पुती पर्युसितम का यात
उच्चिस्तम अपि कामेध्यम
भोजनं तमासा-प्रियम।

"Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness."

Of the 9th we may agree. As we know from modern science,.. too much of salt can cause high blood pressure, too much of hot food can also cause problems and so on. And I believe the 10th bats against fast food (McD goers, keep this in mind!)

But of the 8th I have doubts, as we know of the current problems that people have with atherosclerosis, diabetes and all.

But perhaps, just perhaps, these lines were spoken in times where people were physically fit and did a lot of manual labor.

One place where I find the Gita doubtful.. and wished to point it out.

5 comments:

j said...

No its not coz people were more healthy or sth... I think it talks more of moderation... if you eat food that is balanced, or have moderate quantities of al the above said, thn its obvious ul be more healthy..

Its kinda like cycle..

hasHAN hazaRIKA said...

Nice post..balanced food gives a good health !

Anonymous said...

Well, I guess the Geeta didnt know about lifestyle promoted by the IT industry :)

Naturally, if you follow the advice of Geeta only in the matter of food and not in others, there is that danger of listening to half of the advice.

In those days, no one needed to sit for hours together and do nothing other than twiddle his/her fingers on keyboards and mice.
Even the brahmins who didnt have to do manual labour(but a lot of them did use to do farming) had to practice and recite mantras for hours together.

The process is so draining that generally after an hour, I feel my brain shutting down and I begin yawning involuntarily. Why? Because I dont eat the prescribed food. We need more fat to keep us going! So eat fat. But work out as well-- it can be a nice basket ball session, or a 3-hour ekadasha rudram chanting.

Also, think about it-- Are we Indians generally obese? I dont see extreme-obesity even among urban masses even now... though I hasten to add that the trend is disturbingly getting worse because we eat less and less home-food and more of marketted food.

poo said...

Hmm.. looks like i belong to 9th.. may be m too passionate? too spicy.. like the sour food too.. and offcoz it got to be hot for me.. but I doubt m heading towards misery and distress.. i think in this particular era.. we're quite havin a mix of it all.. may be we are exposed to all colors of life.. not only good not only bad.. but all.

on a dif note, may be you could put those sanscript script in to a larger and bold font, so its more readable and can highlight the post.. or may be i m getting old.;)

Karmasura said...

Hey poo, ya will try it from the next time onwards. Thanks for the suggestion!