WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN
Post No.7621
Date uploaded in London – 26 February 2020
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
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Vegan concept did not exist in ancient India. Hindu saints gave reception to everyone including saints and kings with honey and milk. Sanskrit literature and Bible used the phrase ‘country was so prosperous that honey and milk flowed like river’. Buddha also allowed all dairy projects in the Buddhist monasteries. Buddha banned recruiting lame, dumb, blind, dwarf people as monks. Any one with six fingers and joined fingers were also banned. If anyone recruits these people it is considered ‘Dukkata’, i.e. a fault. If a senior attended such a recruiting ceremony it was considered ‘Double Fault’.
Buddha was against women becoming monks. His chief disciple Ananda begged him several times and at last Buddha yielded to his request. But predicted that his religion would die halfway through its expected full life. We saw Buddhism wiped out from its land of birth like he predicted. Great philosopher and former President of India Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan gave a detailed report in his translation of Dhammapada about this.
Buddha allowed eight types of fruit juices. He also allowed meat if it is already killed, but not for the monk. Since Buddha allowed Tom, Dick and Harry and Juli, Samantha and Mary to become monks, there were lot of conflicts about What to eat, What to wear, What to say and how to behave. As long as he lived, he sorted out all the problems in day to day meetings. After his death each group claimed that they were right and framed their own rules. Three times the Buddhist councils met after his death and decided the ‘Constitution’ for the religion. Each time lot of amendments were passed. Emperor Asoka finalised everything 2300 years ago. And then came the Vinaya Pitaka. In one of the council meetings, entrants to the council hall were interviewed by a group of scholars. All the yellow clad fakes were thrown out of the place if they could not answer the basic questions.
Here are some interesting bits from a Pali language Dictionary:-
EAT MUD
‘Gharadinna kaabaadho’ means sickness arising out of taking something unpalatable to one’s system given by some house wife to seduce him/monk. Its antidote as prescribed by the Buddha was to drink Siitaaloli, i.e. a drink made out of the mud adhering to the plough.
Sita means plough. Rama’s wife also came from plough. When Emperor Janaka ploughed the land with a golden plough (it is a Vedic ceremony) , a baby girl was discovered and she was named SITA.
The Hindu wonder is about 50 names are found in Vedic literature with the names of plants or animals. They were nature lovers and environmentally conscious!
Sakuntala meant bird woman.
Bharatwaja meant Crow, Kausika meant Owl , Vedic Sarama meant Dog and Kasyapa meant Tortoise. We have over 50 names like this.
GORASA
Milk and milk products, such as curd/yogurt , sour-milk, butter, ghee are allowed for monks by the Buddha.
KHAADANIIYA
All kinds of eatables – five kinds of Bhojanas – odana/rice, sattu/nutrient flour, kummasa/junket, macha/fish, mamsa/meat
All kinds of yaamakaalika , i.e. eight kinds of fruit juices of madhu, muddika, saaluka, coca, moca, amba, jambhu and pharusaka.
All kinds of sattaahakaalika , i.e. ghee, butter, oil, honey and phaanita/molasses and All kinds of medicines (are allowed).
ANTOVUTTAKAM, ANTO PAKKAM
Any food or food material, which is not formally allowed by the Sanga stored inside the vihara should not be used by the monks. Food cooked inside the vihara can’t be eaten by monks. (They must beg and get food from the public).
AARAAMA
Aaraamas are pleasure parks. There were 7707 pleasure gardens in the city of Vaisali in Bihar. Bhikkunis/ women monks were not allowed to go there.
Indian State of ‘Bihar’ is derived from Vihara (of Buddhists)
AAVASATHA PINDA
Food prepared out of five kinds of cereals kept ready at a public place/aavasatha by a meritorious person. A monk can eat it only once. (Like Hindu Annadana)
PHALA- TAMIL OR SANSKRIT?
Word ‘Phala’ for fruit is found in 2700 year old Panini’s Ashtadhyayi and 2300 year old Buddhist Pali works and the meaning is fruit or seed. Tamils used this word with special letter ‘Za’. Though it is not a retroflex ‘La’ in Sanskrit and Pali it occurs in later but not Vedic literature. Pali works mentioned 8 types of phala rasa- fruit juices.
It is strange that Vedic literature did not use this ‘phala’. Rig Veda mentioned ‘pippala’ with the general meaning ‘berries’. Pippala became apple in English .
PHALA KHAADANIIYA
Buddha allowed all kinds of fruits for the monks to use as food. Some fruits are named – jack fruit/panasa, bread fruit/ labuja, palmyra fruit/ taala, coconut/ naalikera, mango/amba, rose apple/jambhu, ambaataka, tamarind/tintinika, maatulunga/kind of citrus, wood apple/kapiththa, gourd/alaabu, kumbhanda, timbaruutaka, tipusa/cucumber, vaitingana /aubergine, coca/ kind of banana, honey tree fruit/madhuka
PHALA BHESAJA
Medicinal fruits allowed- vilanga, pippali, marica/pepper, haritika, vibhitaka , aamalaka, gottaphala
PHALARASA
All kinds of fruit juices including sugarcane juice are allowed.
Many other restrictions about dress are found in the DICTIONARY OF EARLY BUDDHIST MONASTIC TERMS compiled from Pali literature by Prof C S Upasik of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar. 1975.
–SUBHAM–
Tamil and Vedas 