Note: I am not promoting non-vegetarianism. These are just 'views' :-)
During yagnas, animal sacrifices were widely performed. During Aswamedha Yaga, horse was slaughtered and was regarded as 'holy food'. This holy food used to be cooked and distributed to all who participated in this yaga, including the audience. Similar to this there were many animal sacrifices done to fire god - Agni. But later on, things changed (during Budha era) and people started moving towards non-violence. So, few classes (Brahmins and Vyshyas) have become vegetarians.
Jalapushpam - An Exception:
Vegetarian class of Bengal and Odisha eat fish, calling it as ‘Jala Pushpam’.
Fish is considered to be a flower. It is considered to be purified by the water of River Hooghly which is a tributary of the Holy Ganges.
How eating fish by Bengali and Odia Brahmins is justified?
Since both fish and lotus flower are born in water, there is no difference between them. Fish is considered to be the purest offering to god. It is believed that, if the fish is put before the god as prasadham, the fish becomes veg. They are called Macha Brahmnals.
After marriage, a newly married couple tastes fish first as it is the symbol of purity. Whereas, in other regions, people taste Milk and / or milk products first.
How this started?
There have been a number of significant famines in the history of Bengal since 1773.
The then British Bengal included - Parts of Bihar, Odisha, WB and Bangladesh (Whole of East India).
Some of these famines lasted for about 12 years. So, there was a great proportion of population affected by these famines.The crops were not enough to feed everyone during these famines.
In such a situation, it has become mandatory for river / sea-side people to rely on fish. Sea / River food was obviously unaffected by famines. By depending on fish, they ensured that the non-coastal population had sufficient food in the form of crops. They considered this to be a service to god.
Why just 'fish' and not other animals?
Even when caught on a hook, the fish is never experiences pain because it does not have the necessary brain power. It is just equal to lotus flower. Fish’s reaction to being hooked is an unconscious reaction and is not a response to pain.Whereas, all other animals have brain and they experience pain.
During yagnas, animal sacrifices were widely performed. During Aswamedha Yaga, horse was slaughtered and was regarded as 'holy food'. This holy food used to be cooked and distributed to all who participated in this yaga, including the audience. Similar to this there were many animal sacrifices done to fire god - Agni. But later on, things changed (during Budha era) and people started moving towards non-violence. So, few classes (Brahmins and Vyshyas) have become vegetarians.
Jalapushpam - An Exception:
Vegetarian class of Bengal and Odisha eat fish, calling it as ‘Jala Pushpam’.
Fish is considered to be a flower. It is considered to be purified by the water of River Hooghly which is a tributary of the Holy Ganges.
How eating fish by Bengali and Odia Brahmins is justified?
Since both fish and lotus flower are born in water, there is no difference between them. Fish is considered to be the purest offering to god. It is believed that, if the fish is put before the god as prasadham, the fish becomes veg. They are called Macha Brahmnals.
After marriage, a newly married couple tastes fish first as it is the symbol of purity. Whereas, in other regions, people taste Milk and / or milk products first.
How this started?
There have been a number of significant famines in the history of Bengal since 1773.
The then British Bengal included - Parts of Bihar, Odisha, WB and Bangladesh (Whole of East India).
Some of these famines lasted for about 12 years. So, there was a great proportion of population affected by these famines.The crops were not enough to feed everyone during these famines.
In such a situation, it has become mandatory for river / sea-side people to rely on fish. Sea / River food was obviously unaffected by famines. By depending on fish, they ensured that the non-coastal population had sufficient food in the form of crops. They considered this to be a service to god.
Why just 'fish' and not other animals?
Even when caught on a hook, the fish is never experiences pain because it does not have the necessary brain power. It is just equal to lotus flower. Fish’s reaction to being hooked is an unconscious reaction and is not a response to pain.Whereas, all other animals have brain and they experience pain.
Nice on Badri... nuvvu office lo chala saarlu jalapuspam ani anevaadivi.. just anesi vadileyakunda.. u got nice and useful information and posted it.. good good...
ReplyDelete:D Thanks .. he he
DeleteDear Badri, I completely agree to disagree with your statements here. If I may ask, where did you read or who told you that horse would b slaughter upon completing ashwamedha yaga? Please do quote where you read it of it was some book from x publications. I am surprised to see a person like u to fall in the trap of cheap atrocity literature! It's all cheap atrocity literature to put down sanathana dharma n project it low n cheap! 2 we known occasions of ashwamedha yaga are the oneS mentioned in ramayana n mahabharat. Refer to valmiki virichita ramayana n vyasa virichita mahabharat (gita press publications are considered as authenticated) and find yourself if it was mentioned so as per ur assumption. Now talking about classes moving towards veg food as you also mentioned brahmins, buddha era has nothing to do with it. To that matter last food consumed by Buddha was pork! It's a ridiculous joke if someone say Buddha preached vegetarian food.its sage Agastya, who prohibited non veg food consumption for brahmins in kaliyuga, though few still eat till date which is a non denial fact. Brada ,I humbly request you to kindly reconsider your statement in this post n modify it accordingly n please do some proper fact checks before publishing this kinda posts n kindly accept my apologies for taking the liberty to correct you here. Good luck.
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