more on Jains and garlic, onions and potatoes

[Guest guest]

FYI--in case anyone is interested on the reason why

Jains (in theory) do not eat garlic, onions,a nd

potatoes. It's from an email I had sent off-list to

someone else.

 

 

 

Here is what I know. Jainism has classified all

living beings under a huge complex taxonomy. Plants

come in two general types: pratyek, in which there is

one soul per body, and sadharan, in which there are

infinite (anant) souls in a given material body. The

sadharan or multiple-souled forms of plant life are,

in turn, of two types: " gross " (badar) and " subtle "

(suksam). The gross varieties include such common root

vegetables as potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and

yams, and this taxon, therefore, is extremely

important from the standpoint of dietary rules.

Because potatoes and similar vegetables harbor tiny

forms of life in infinite numbers, they are -- in --

theory -- forbidden to jains. The ban on the eating of

root vegetables is one of the principal markers

distinguishing jain vegetarianism.

 

A lot of this ongoing debate has to do with what's

been written in different scriptures, (which I won't

go into here.)Here is a link to a that has

this discussion:

jainlist/messages/3001?viscount=100

 

hope this helps:)