PYTHAGORAS AND VEGETABLES
30. PYTHAGORAS AND VEGETABLES
The Chinese scholar Chu Yu was
describing an experience he had. He was preparing a dish with fish and he put a
sea fish into boiling water. That was the Chinese way of cooking fish. The fish
came up arching its body. Ch Yu put the fish back in the water. The fish came
up again. When, later, he cut the fish he could see a large number of eggs in
its belly. He then understood that it was to save the unborn fishlings that the
fish surfaced itself. He could not sleep that night. Then he decided that
henceforth he would not eat the flesh of any being.
World over the number of vegetarians is
increasing. What is wrong in becoming a vegetarian? There were many great names
in the vegetarian group. World renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw was one
of them. He asserted that his stomach was not the graveyard of dead animals. His
breakfast consisted of grapes, milk porridge and wheat cookies. His favoruite
dishes were vegetable sandwich and yoghurt. Sometimes he would have a glass of
milk, sometimes orange juice.
The great sculptor and painter Michelangelo
was very particular about vegetarian food. His biographer Vasari asserts that
he was interested only in his work. He had never given any importance to food. After
work he would have a little of wine and some bread. As he became older his
aversion for food also grew. Though along with his fame he amassed wealth also,
he led the life of an ordinary man.
There were great men in every avenue of
glory who had made vegetarianism a habit of life. Among the scientists prominent
vegetarians included Einstein, Isaac Newton, C V Raman, the mathematical wizard
Sreenivasa Ramanujam and Nobel laureate Chandrasekhar Subramaniam. Edison had
said that we would continue to be savages till we gave up the habit of harming
living things.
Among the world leaders in literature
there were many votaries of vegetarianism. For many great writers like Milton,
Wordsworth, Shelley, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, H G Wells, Alexander Pope, Ovid and
Plutarch the favourite dishes were of vegetarian.
The same was the case with many great philosophers
like Diogenes, Plato, Socrates, Rousseau, Voltaire and Chanakya. They were all
votaries of vegetarianism. Mahatma Gandhi, who is synonymous with Ahimsa,
states thus: ‘To my
mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of lamb for
the sake of the human body. ’
According
to Albert Einstein people who consider life as meaningless are unfit to live. Rachel
Carson, the renowned environmentalist and author, is of the opinion that you
cannot have peace among people who find pleasure in killing living creatures. That
food is best, says Adam Smith, which consists of cereals, milk and fruits. He
also reminds that one does not have to eat meat to become a gentleman.
Today
70 per cent of the vegetarians in the world are Indians. In England vegetarians
account for five per cent of the population. Even in America there is an increase
in the number of vegetarians. At present they constitute three per cent the
population.
Can
a pure vegetarian be totally healthy? This is a fundamental doubt that many
have and only experts can answer this question which involves some other questions
as well. Nobel laureate Dr. Arthury Vitanan says that vegetables contain all
the nutritional requirements of the body. Milk is considered along with
vegetables. As milk is obtained from animals many do not include it in the list
of vegetables. Dr. Hardinge, an expert from Harvard and Stanford Universities,
says that even if milk is excluded and a person takes only fruits and
vegetables he can well meet the nutritional requirements of the body.
There
is a group of people who live in the northern provinces of Pakistan. These
people of the mountainous regions of Hansa Jiljit and Kaghan live in conditions
which call for extreme physical exertion. Every day they have to travel miles
and miles over the inhospitable terrain to meet their basic needs. It is noteworthy
that their food consists of only wheat, potato, onion, cereals and fruits.
One
should bear in mind that the steelman Gilman Loy and Mr. America Roy Hillan
were both vegetarians. The epitome of mercy Sree Buddha was a votary of ahimsa.
There is an episode in Buddhasutra which makes it clear that god will save
those who are merciful. It was the time when the war between Devas and Asuras
was at its peak. The war got prolonged without either side winning. At one
point the Devaraja retreated and fled with his army. On the way he came near a
tree, a branch of which had a bird’s nest. The Devaraja ordered the army to
halt. If the horses and the infantry sped past the tree, the nest might fall
down and the eggs would break. This should not happen. Devaraja had no further hesitation.
He ordered the army to go back. That retreat was a blessing because seeing the
army returning, the Asura Raja panicked and fled for his life.
Belief
in the ultimate value of life. It is this belief that induces even non-Buddhists
to vegetarianism. Other reasons are also there. There are people who argue that
the physiognomy of man is best suited to vegetarianism. They compare our teeth
and nails to those of carnivorous animals to establish this scientifically. The
number of people returning to vegetarian habits is increasing, be it for
reasons religious,moralistic,spiritual, psychological or environmental.
In
the Western world the earliest vegetarians were known as ‘Pythagoreans!’ It
meant followers of Pythagoras who was a pure vegetarian. As long as men kill
animals they will also kill each other. He stated that those who sow the seeds
of violence and pain cannot harvest joy and love. Those who followed Pythagoras
and became vegetarians were thousands in number. It can be said that
vegetarianism as a movement also started with Pythagoras.
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