Food
1. Unfit Food
16. Meat that has been cut with a knife used for slaughtering is not fit to be eaten.
17. He should not break off a piece of cake with his teeth.
18. When a death has occurred in a house, he should not eat there for 10 days,
19. as also after a birth before the mother comes out of the birthing room,
20. and when there is a corpse in a house.
21. Food that has been touched by an impure person becomes impure
but is not rendered unfit to be eaten.
22. Food that an impure Śūdra brings, on the other hand, is not fit to be eaten,
23. as also food in which there is a hair 24. or some other filth;
25. food that has come into contact with filthy substances;
26. food in which there is an insect that lives on filth
27. or in which there are mouse droppings or mouse parts;
28. food that has been touched with the feet 29. or with the hem of a garment;
30. food that has been seen by a dog or a degraded individual;
31. food that has been carried in the hem of a garment;
32. and food that has been brought at night by a slave woman.
2. Rules of Eating
33. If, while he is eating,
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1. he is touched by a Śūdra, he should stop eating.
2. He shall not eat seated alongside ignoble people; 3. or in a place where, while the group is eating, one of them may get up and give away his leftovers or sip water; 4. or where people insult him when they give food; 5. or food that men or other filthy creatures have smelt.
6. He should not eat on a boat 7. or a terrace.
8. Let him eat sitting on a specially prepared area of the floor.
3. Eating Utensils
9. He should eat out of a clay vessel that has not been used before, 10. or, if it has been used, only after scorching it with fire.
11. A vessel made of metal is purified by scrubbing, 12. and one made of wood by scraping.
13. During a sacrifice, vessels are purified in the manner prescribed by the Vedic texts.
4. Forbidden Food
14. He should not eat food obtained from the market, 15. even seasonings, with the exception of raw meat, honey, and salt;
16. oil and ghee, on the other hand, may be used after sprinkling them with water.
17. He should not eat, drink, or consume cooked food that has been left overnight 18. or turned sour,
19. with the exception of sugar-cane juice, rolled rice, gruel, roasted barley, barley meal, vegetables, meat, flour, milk, milk products, and roots and fruits of plants and trees.
20. He should not consume anything that has turned sour without mixing it with some other food.
21. It is forbidden to drink any type of liquor; 22. as also the milk of sheep, 23. camels, and deer; the milk of animals in heat or bearing twins; 24. and the milk of a cow during the first 10 days after giving birth.
25. Herbs used in the manufacture of liquor are likewise forbidden;
26. as also Karañja garlic, onion, leeks, 27. and any other food that is forbidden.
28. For a Brāhmaṇa states: ‘Mushrooms should not be eaten.’
29. The meat of one-hoofed animals, camels, Gayal oxen, village pigs, and Śarabha cattle are forbidden. 30. It is permitted to eat the meat of milk cows and oxen.
31. A text of the Vājasaneyins states: ‘The meat of oxen is fit for sacrifice.’
32. Among birds that feed by scratching with their feet, the cock is forbidden, 33. and among birds that feed by thrusting their beaks, the Plava heron.
34. Carnivorous birds are forbidden; 35. as also the Haṁsa goose, the Bhāsa vulture, the Cakra bird, and the Suparṇa falcon. 36. The Kruñca curlew and the Krauñca crane are forbidden, with the exception of the Vārdhrāṇasa cranes and Lakṣmaṇa cranes.
37. Animals with 5 claws are forbidden, with the exception of the Godhā monitor lizard, tortoise, porcupine, hedgehog, rhinoceros, hare, and Pūtikhaṣa.
38. Among fish, the Ceṭa is forbidden, 39. as also the snake-head fish, the Mṛdura crocodile, carnivorous fish, and others that are grotesque, such as the mermen.
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5. People from Whom Food May Be Accepted
1. Honey, uncooked food, venison, land, roots, fruits, protection, pasture for cattle, house, and fodder for a draught ox may be accepted from an Ugra.
2. According to Hārīta, even these may be accepted only when they are brought by a pupil.
3. Alternatively, uncooked food may be accepted, 4. or even cooked food if it does not contain any seasoning, 5. but not a lot.
6. If he has lost his livelihood, he may eat food obtained on his own from anyone after paying for it with gold or an animal. 7. He should not be overly attracted to this way of life 8. and give it up when he finds his legitimate livelihood.
9. A student who has returned home may not eat any food given by people belonging to the 3 classes beginning with Kṣatriya:
10. As a rule, he may eat the food of a Brahmin, although it may become unfit to be eaten for a particular reason, 11. as during a time when a person required to do a penance is performing the penitential act.
12. After the man has concluded his penance, he may eat his food.
13. According to some, he is permitted to eat the food of people belonging to any class who adhere to their respective Laws, with the exception of Śūdras, 14. and even of a Śūdra whom he has obtained according to the Law.
15. He may eat it after paying for it with gold or an animal, but let him not be overly attracted to this way of life and give it up when he finds his legitimate livelihood.
16. He shall not eat the food
- given by a corporate body 17. or announced through a public invitation;
18. - the food of anyone who lives by practising a craft 19. or using weapons;
20. - the food of a pawnbroker, 21. a physician, 22. or an usurer;
23. - and, prior to the purchase of the Soma, the food of a man who has been consecrated for a sacrifice.
24. Only after the animal dedicated to Agni and Soma has been killed 25. or after its omentum has been offered, may one eat the food of a man consecrated for a sacrifice,
26. for a Brāhmaṇa states:
‘Alternatively,
after setting aside the portion to be offered in sacrifice,
they may eat the remainder.’
27. He shall not eat the food of the following:
- an impotent man; 28. - a royal messenger;
29. - a man who makes oblations with substances unfit for offering;
30. - a spy;
31. - a man who has become a wandering ascetic without following the proper procedure;
32. - a man who has relinquished his sacred fires;
33. - a Vedic scholar who stays away from everybody, eats anybody’s food, neglects his Vedic recitation, or is married to a Śūdra woman;
19.
1. - a drunkard; a mad man; a prisoner; a debtor;
- and a moneylender who hounds a man who owes him,
- as well as the man who makes the lender hound him, so long as they are thus engaged.
2. Who, then, is the man whose food he may eat?
3. ‘Anyone who gives willingly,’ says Kāṇva.
4. ‘A pious man,’ says Kautsa.
5. ‘Any- one who gives,’ says Vārṣyāyaṇi,
6. for if impurities remain immobile in a person, then there is nothing wrong in eating his food, and if impurities are mobile, then the person will become pure by means of the gift.
7. ‘Alms-food is pure and may be eaten’, according to Eka, Kuṇika, Kāṇva, and Kutsa, as well as Puṣkarasādi; 8. and, according to Vārṣyāyaṇi, food that one receives unasked from anybody.
9. He may eat the food given willingly by a pious person, 10. but even when given by a pious person, he may not eat it if it is given unwillingly.
11. He may eat food that he receives unasked from anyone at all, 12. but, says Hārīta, not if it is received subsequent to an invitation.
13. Now, they quote two verses from a Purāṇa:
Alms-food brought and handed over even by an evildoer,
in the opinion of Prajāpati, is suitable for eating,
so long as it has not been previously announced.
If a man spurns such food,
his forefathers will not eat from him for 15 years
and the sacred fire will not convey his oblations.
14. And further:
It is forbidden to eat the food of physicians, hunters, surgeons, fowlers, unchaste wives, or eunuchs.
15. Now, they also quote:
An abortionist rubs his sin off on the man who eats his food,
an innocent person on the man who slanders him,
a thief on the king who releases him,
and a supplicant on the man who makes false promises.
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6. Path of the Law
1. Let him not follow the Laws for the sake of worldly benefits, 2. for then the Laws produce no fruit at harvest time.
3. It is like this:
A man plants a mango tree to get fruits, but in addition he obtains also shade and fragrance:
In like manner, when a man follows the Law, he obtains, in addition, other benefits. 4. Even if he does not obtain them, at least no harm is done to the Law.
5. Let him not become vexed or easily deceived by the pronouncements of hypocrites, crooks, infidels, and fools:
6. The Righteous (dharma) and the Unrighteous (adharma) do not go around saying, ‘Here we are!’ Nor do gods, Gandharvas, or ancestors declare, ‘This is righteous and that is unrighteous.’
7. An activity that Āryas praise is righteous, and what they deplore is unrighteous:
8. He should model his conduct after that which is unanimously approved in all regions by Āryas who have been properly trained, who are elderly and self-possessed, and who are neither greedy nor deceitful.
9. In this way he will win both worlds.
7. Trade as an Occupation
10. Trade is not sanctioned for Brahmins.
11. In times of adversity, he may trade in permitted goods, eschewing these forbidden ones:
12. human beings, seasonings, dyes, perfumes, foods, skins, barren cows, glue, water, tender grain stalks, wine making ingredients, red and black pepper, grain, meat, weapons, and merits.
13. Among grains, however, the sale of sesame seeds and rice is strictly forbidden.
14. It is also forbidden to barter one of the above items for another.
15. He may, however, barter food for food, human beings for human beings, seasonings for seasonings, perfumes for perfumes, and knowledge for knowledge.
16. He may trade in permitted goods that have not been bought,
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1. as also in Muñja grass, Balbaja grass, roots, and fruits, 2. and in grasses and wood that have not been hand-crafted.
3. He should not be overly attracted to this way of life
4. and give it up when he finds his legitimate livelihood.