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Garlic and onionz ..why?

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Subala

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I actully digged out the post which was made a year ago on this topic....

 

but still I can't find why not to eat...

 

Say eating garlic and onion are the stumbling blocks for aspiring yogi because they are in tamo-guna and effect of eating this 2 products is .....?

 

besides good health and bad odor - does anyone know quotes why they bad for spiritual life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.audarya-fellowship.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=hinduism&Number=18740&page=16&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS. actully i found one more interesting passage -

 

Onion and Garlic

 

palandu lasunam sigrum alambum grjanam palam

bhunkte yo vai naro brahman vratam candrayanam caret

 

(Padma Purana, Brahma Khanda 19.10, spoken by Suta Gosvami)

 

O sages, one who eats garlic, onions, sigrum (a kind of plant), turnips, bottle gourd and meat, that person should observe a candrayana fast.

 

vrntakam jalisakam kusumbha smantakam tatha

palandu lasunam suklam niryasan caiva varjayet

grjanam kinsukan caiva kukundanca tathaiva ca

udumbaram alavun ca jagdhva patati vai dvijah

 

(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 8.158,159, from Kurma Purana)

 

One should not eat eggplant, banana leaves, sunflower leaves and asmantaka leaves, onions, garlic. One should not eat sour gruel (a thin watery pouriage) or the juice of the tree. One should also give up turnips and beetroots, carrots, kinsuka, forest figs, and white pumpkin. If the twice born persons eat these things, they all become fallen.

 

(This translation of gr.n~jana seems to be questionable. Capeller dictionary says that it refers to garlic.)

 

HBV-related quotes:

 

"According to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the regulative principles of devotional service compiled by Gopala Bhatta Gosvami do not strictly follow our Vaisnava principles. Actually, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami collected only a summary of the elaborate descriptions of Vaisnava regulative principles from the Hari-bhakti-vilasa. It is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami's opinion, however, that to follow the Hari-bhakti-vilasa strictly is to actually follow the Vaisnava rituals in perfect order. He claims that the smarta-samaja, which is strictly followed by caste brahmanas, has influenced portions that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami collected from the original Hari-bhakti-vilasa. It is therefore very difficult to find out Vaisnava directions from the book of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. It is better to consult the commentary made by Sanatana Gosvami himself for the Hari-bhakti-vilasa under the name of Dig-darsini-tika. Some say that the same commentary was compiled by Gopinatha-puja Adhikari, who was engaged in the service of Sri Radha-ramanaji and who happened to be one of the disciples of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami." (CC Madhya 1.35p.)

 

"Sanatana Gosvami wrote his Vaisnava smrti, Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which was specifically meant for India. In those days, India was more or less following the principle of smarta-vidhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami had to keep pace with this, and his Hari-bhakti-vilasa was compiled with this in mind." (CC Madhya 23.105)

 

"This Hari-bhakti-vilasa, also Vaisnava-smrti, that is also imitation of smartaism. It is called smrti. So at least in Europe and America, they will never be able to take all these things. The things should be made shortcut; at the same time, they should be successful. So that is chanting of Hare Krsna maha-mantra, depending on..." (Room Conversation -- July 16, 1973, London)

 

As we know, Srila Prabhupada was more lenient than his guru and previous acaryas not only in this but also in other cases.

 

Manu-samhita:

 

5.5. Garlic, leeks and onions, mushrooms and (all plants), springing from impure (substances), are unfit to be eaten by twice-born men.

 

5.19. A twice-born man who knowingly eats mushrooms, a village-pig, garlic, a village-cock, onions, or leeks, will become an outcast.

 

 

http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/bhaktiyoga/bhaktiyoga-6.htm

 

 

 

 

 

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I found that when I ate onions (never liked garlic) that my mouth even after cleaning was so unpleasant that I couldn't sing hymns. As the air comes out of the mouth it enters the nose and the result is a demotivator (to say the least). This was the lesson Krsna taught this obstinate boy who was defeated by his mind and attachment to onions, since he had not enough faith in the master.

 

I don't bother arguing about the rules with others. I hardly ever mention them. I just say "Them's the rules and I don't understand all of them. But there are so many more important things to learn than those reasons, so I accept from the master who knows the truth."

 

And really accepting from the superior authority is the secret, absolute faith in guru and Krsna.

 

Who says it has to be rational anyway? Saying that Krsna does not like onions and garlic, will certainly not seem rational to someone who cannot see that the master's word is quite enough.

 

gHari

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I heard that some purana tells the tale of the time when Lord Shiva's bull Nandi was killed by some asura or whatever and his body parts were scattered about the earth.

Wherever these bodyparts fell is where garlic and onions and some other plants grew from. That is why eating garlic and onions is to be considered like eating the flesh of Nandi the greatly pious Bull of Lord Shiva. So, in this way it could be considered worse than eating meat from lower animals like pigs and chickens etc.

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  • 2 years later...

Chapter 5, Verse 5, "Garlic, leeks and onions, mushrooms and (all plants), springing from impure (substances), are unfit to be eaten by twice-born men."

 

 

Regarding the provenance of garlic, onions, and mushrooms (they grow in manure and dirt), and references to them making an alkaline body acidic which throws off your concentration when meditating.

 

The most practical justification was that yoga and meditation purify the body and make it smell sweet while sulphur compounds in garlic and onions make the body stink, counteracting the good of the yoga.

 

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I always wondered the same thing. I think it mostly the smell factor, and also according to Ayurveda these are supposedly "exciting" foods and a yogi has to be calm (that's just a guess though). Anyway, I don't really think it's such a big deal. I make a lot of dishes with garlic and onions, but I brush my teeth, gargle and floss after every meal so I only taste it while eating. Plus I know for a fact that many "gurus" and devotees drink caffeinated substances like tea, which are definitely more energizing than garlic and onions.

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  • 3 weeks later...

even though ppl tell me; "but ayurveda says onion n garlic are good for the body" i respond to them, yes, good for the body not for the mind ;)

 

they are considered unofferable to krsna. they increase rajas n tamas. and are too fiery. they agitate bhakti. plus they smell. anyway hing is a very acceptable substitute.

 

when ravana was killed 4 drops of blood fell to the earth and created 4 plants, onion, garlic, leeks and mushrooms. so thats y also we cant have them.

 

and im sorry sporkubus, even if u brush ur teeth i could smell it on u. it comes thru the pores of the body and ur sweat. i can smell someone who eats garlic n onion a mile away. yuck.

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Guest guest

 

even though ppl tell me; "but ayurveda says onion n garlic are good for the body" i respond to them, yes, good for the body not for the mind ;)

they are considered unofferable to krsna. they increase rajas n tamas. and are too fiery. they agitate bhakti. plus they smell. anyway hing is a very acceptable substitute.

when ravana was killed 4 drops of blood fell to the earth and created 4 plants, onion, garlic, leeks and mushrooms. so thats y also we cant have them.

and im sorry sporkubus, even if u brush ur teeth i could smell it on u. it comes thru the pores of the body and ur sweat. i can smell someone who eats garlic n onion a mile away. yuck.

True, Garlic releases sulphur in the blood , so if even if you brush or take bath or apply perfume the sulphur in your blood smells. There is no way but to wait for the smell to go.

 

But i dont believe in the chandamama story of Ravan's blood becoming plants etc . Too old to believe this

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