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Thread: Apastambha sutras

  1. #1

    Apastambha sutras

    Recently I went through the Apastambha sutras on a website and it mentions about Brahmins eating different kinds of meat and I was surprised to read it.
    Is it true that Brahmins used to eat meat ? Why is it now non vegetarian food is restricted for brahmins? When I do Sandhyavandana it says "Apastabha sutraha".So if we are following that sutras why are brahmins not allowed to eat meat? Can somebody clarify my doubts? thanks in advance.

  2. #2

    Re: Apastambha sutras

    as far as i know, vegetarianism was fully adopted after the waning of nastika religious movements. it was mainly due to the influence of such religions (jainism, buddhism).

    in tamil texts, before the kalabhras (who were jain/buddhist) came about to tamil lands, brahmins were eating meat etc. Only thing i dont think brahmins ever ate was cow.

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    Re: Apastambha sutras

    Hari Om
    ~~~~~


    Namaste

    A post for your consideration:

    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...habharata+meat
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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    Re: Apastambha sutras

    Quote Originally Posted by rameshonweb View Post
    Recently I went through the Apastambha sutras on a website and it mentions about Brahmins eating different kinds of meat and I was surprised to read it.
    Is it true that Brahmins used to eat meat ? Why is it now non vegetarian food is restricted for brahmins? When I do Sandhyavandana it says "Apastabha sutraha".So if we are following that sutras why are brahmins not allowed to eat meat? Can somebody clarify my doubts? thanks in advance.
    Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads also mention brahmanas eating meat. In certain Vedic yajnas it was an essential part of ritual. (Which is accepted not only by scholars, but by Hindu orthodox leaders such as Kanchi Paramacharya as well.)

    Later vegetarianism became popular due to buddhism and vaishnava influence.
    Even though in some places many brahmanas continued to be non-vegetarians in Bengal, Assam, Konkana, Kerala, Nepal, Bali etc.

    This topic was discussed many times. Vegetarianism is an option in Hinduism and not a must. Exception is vaishnavism, which is almost all vegetarian.

  5. #5

    Re: Apastambha sutras

    So essentially you mean to say that by being a Vegetarian , nothing big is achieved by brahmins and a vegetarian brahmin is no better than a meat eating brahmin.
    In our house we dont even eat onions and garlic,iam in a shock that the great sages ate meat.

  6. #6

    Re: Apastambha sutras

    There are many thread about this on the forum, you should read it before you make up your mind.

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    Re: Apastambha sutras

    Hari Om
    ~~~~~

    Śiva Pūraṇa , Vidyesvara samhita, 43rd sloka
    A devotee of Śiva shall refrain from eating meat, garlic, onion, red garlic, pothherb, slesmataka, pig of rubbish ( pork) and liquors.

    In the Anusasana Parva, section CXV ( or section 115) Yudhishtrhira asks Bishma a few questions.
    He says, you ( Bishma) have informed me many times that the abstention from injury is the highest religion. Yet in sraddhas, however, that are performed in honour of the Pitris, persons for their own good should make offerings of diverse kinds of meat.
    • How can meat be procured without slaying a living creature?
    • What are the faults one incurs by eating meat?
    • What are the demerits one incurs who eats meat by killing a living creature? Or of him who eats meat buying it from others?
    Bishma then says, Listen to me O scion of the Kuru race, what the merit is that attaches to the abstention from me.
    • Those high souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength, and memory should abstain from acts of injury.
    • The merit by a person with steadfastness of vow adores the deities every month in horse sacrifices is equal to him that discards honey and meat.
    • The seven rishis, the Valakhilyasm and the rishis that drink the rays of the sun applaud the abstention from meat.
    • Bishma continues and says, Narada muni has said that the man who wishes to increase his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures meets with calamity.
    • The man who has eaten meat then gives it up acquires merit by such an act that is so great that a study of all the vedas or a performance of all the sacrifices cannot bestow its like ( or its equal).
    • The period of life is shortened of persons who slaughter living creatures or cause them to be slaughtered ( i.e. demand for meat).
    • One should never eat meat of animals not dedicated in sacrifices and that are slain for no reason.
    pranams
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  8. #8

    Re: Apastambha sutras

    You are saying that siva purana asks to refrain from eating meat, if so it means that the great rishis of ramayana and mahabharata time did a mistake? then how did they attain moksha?

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    Re: Apastambha sutras

    Hari Om
    ~~~~~

    Quote Originally Posted by rameshonweb View Post
    You are saying that siva purana asks to refrain from eating meat, if so it means that the great rishis of ramayana and mahabharata time did a mistake? then how did they attain moksha?
    Namaste rameshonweb,
    First note I am offering POV's for your consideration. What you injest is your choice.

    If you look into the Śiva Pūraa, Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāa, Mahābhārata, Yogadarśana of Patañjali these books offer the principle of ahiṁsā, the first yama/restraint, non-injury.

    If you wish to read more about yama and niyama here at HDF, please consiter this post: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2956 , multiple posts give all yama&niyama-s offered.

    You mention how do sages then become enlightened? If you recall Vālmīki - the author of the Rāmāyaṇa ? Vālmīki's original name was Ratnakar, and had a dubious career (a robber of sorts). He was fortunate to correct his ways by meeting with some enlightened beings and to receive a mantra to assist him in his unfoldment…this mantra was rāma.
    Ratnakar said I cannot pronounce this rāma, please give me something different. So, the sages gave him the mantra
    Mara - note this is rāma backwards MA-RA. So, as the story goes, he gets absorbed in samādhi, stays in one spot for a long time and ants build a hill around him.

    Being totally absorbed in bliss, it did not concern him. When the sages return, they ask him to come out - He comes out fully enlightened (jivanmukti) and they give him his new name Vālmīki from 'Vālmīka' meaning an ant-hill. Vālmīki , the author of the Ramayana.

    So Why do I offer this story? It is said, success (siddhi) in action (kriy
    ā) is born (janma) of sattva¹ it is not the means. It is though sattva that success & unfoldment comes, that this mokśa begins to unfold. It is through our intent, our actions, our focus on this satyam (truth) that sāyujya (union with the Supreme) unfolds. The wise become enlightened in this manner; Vālmīki, even once as robber, took actions to change and became a great sage.

    In Vasiṣṭha's Yoga, the conversation of Vasiṣṭha-jī with Śrī Rām he says to Rām " there are 4 gatekeepers at the entrance to the realm of mokśa (liberation or enlightenment) that is, self-control, spirit of enquiry, contentment, and good company ( satsang) "
    • "He who wears the armor of self control is not harmed by sorrows."
    • Enquiry, the study of the sruti and smurti he says " the intelligence becomes keen and is able to realize the Supreme";
    • With Contentment - "one does not crave" and one that is not content in the SELF will be subjected to sorrow.
    • Satsang or the company of the wise and enlightened "enlarges ones intelligence" and "is superior to all other forms of religious practice like charity, austerity, pilgrimage, rites, etc".
    • He concludes by saying " if you cannot practice all 4 , practice one."
    You will see lots of posts that address these items above. They are the material that dharma is made of.

    pranams
    1. sattva सत्त्व - the quality of purity; vital breath , life ,consciousness , and the infusion of pure consciousness; strength of character , strength , firmness , energy , resolution , courage , self-command , good sense , wisdom , magnanimity
    Last edited by yajvan; 08 August 2008 at 04:19 PM. Reason: sentence updates
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  10. Re: Apastambha sutras

    Yajvan
    I do agree with what ever you have mentioned.But most of them here seems to believe that all the great sages and brahmins and kings ate meat and were non vegetarians.

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