In Hindu Puranas, Vishnu is a strict vegetarian god, but Shiva eats whatever he is given and the Goddess loves blood. Again this is not a strict rule. For when Vishnu descends as Ram, he hunts deer for food (an idea that many vegetarian Hindus reject rather violently).
So is eating meat “wrong”? 🌱 The Bhagavad Gita explains that Sattvic foods lift you up, Rajasic foods agitate, and Tamasic foods — including meat — pull the mind into darkness and restlessness. Recognizing the food and mind connection, make conscious choices that support peace, purity, and conscious living.
Rishis such as Agastya and Vishwamitra are associated with non-vegetarian practices—Agastya is even credited in some texts with the consumption of meat to balance nature. The Mahabharata and Ramayana also describe instances where sages participated in rituals involving meat.
The elder members of his family and priests say that legend has it that Lord Narasimha Swamy, to whom prayers are offered in a small temple perched on a rock just a few meters away, used to eat non-vegetarian items and feed Sri Venkateswara Swamy with chicken to satiate His hunger whenever He used to pass by, and the ...
Strikingly, and consistent with Indian mythology, ancient India was overwhelmingly meat-eating. The Rigveda, our oldest Sanskrit text, contains over 50 references to eating beef, horse, and other meats. Vedic priests regularly performed animal sacrifices and consumed the offerings.
Vegetarian vs Non Vegetarian in Hinduism | You Become What You Eat
Did Shiva used to eat non-veg?
In Hindu Puranas, Vishnu is a strict vegetarian god, but Shiva eats whatever he is given and the Goddess loves blood. Again this is not a strict rule. For when Vishnu descends as Ram, he hunts deer for food (an idea that many vegetarian Hindus reject rather violently).
While the Bhagavad Gita doesn't explicitly prohibit meat consumption, it classifies meat as a tamasic food that promotes qualities of darkness, lethargy, and ignorance. The text emphasizes the importance of sattvic foods for spiritual growth and consciousness development.
Although Shivarai himself did not eat meat, some of his Sardars and Mawlas used to eat meat on rare occasions. And they still do today! As hunting was the hobby of the royal family and Mawlas, some people without any thought consider Shivaraya as a non-vegetarian!
Leviticus 17:14. 14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”
Rigveda (6/17/1) states "Hindu God Indra used to eat the meat of cow, calf, horse and buffalo.” Manusmriti (Chapter 5 / Verse 30) says, “It is not sinful to eat meat of eatable animals, for Brahma has created both the eaters and the eatables.” Maharishi Yagyavalkya says in Shatpath Brahmin (3/1/2/21) that, “I eat beef ...
While at least one ancient text, the “Manava Gṛhyaśāstra,” suggests that at one time, Ganesha may have been offered meat, in contemporary practice this has been replaced with vegetarian food, the most popular of which is the “ladoo” – a delightful Indian ball-shaped sweet made from chickpea flour, usually yellow or ...
Since persons who are sattvic (“mode of goodness”) approve of neither abortion nor the eating of aborted and/or unfertilized offspring, we don't eat eggs. Ultimately, the reason Krishna's devotees eat or don't eat something is because Krishna gives a list of what we should offer Him. Eggs are not on the list.
According to the Garuda Purana, consuming meat generates negative karma and binds the soul to the cycle of birth and death (samsara). It is also believed that eating meat can disturb the mind's purity (sattva guna), making it harder to engage in spiritual practices like meditation and devotion.
Kannappa's devotion to Shiva began when he discovered the vayu linga (embodiment of air) while hunting in the forest. He offered the aniconic representation of Shiva whatever he could, including water from his mouth and meat from his hunts.
They do not know that goddess Kali never accepts nonvegetarian food because she is the chaste wife of Lord Siva. Lord Siva is also a great Vaisnava and never eats nonvegetarian food, and the goddess Kali accepts the remnants of food left by Lord Siva. Therefore there is no possibility of her eating flesh or fish.
Gandhiji was a strict vegetarian both by custom as well as by choice. He classified foods into three broad diets – vegetarian, mixed and flesh foods. He not only practised but also professed vegetarianism.
Was Arjuna vegetarian or not? Definitely non-vegetarian. It was absolutely a common custom among Brahmin and Kshatriya, and the other two Varna also. Being a warrior, Arjun consumed meat.
The four types of food are: chewed with the teeth (bhaksyam), like roasted chick peas; savored by the tongue without using the teeth (bhojyam) such as soup; licked (lehyam) such as raw sugar; and sucked items (cosya), in which the chewed portion is discarded, such as sugar cane stick.
All liking for fish and meat disappears when pure Sattva is highly developed, and these are the signs of its manifestation in a soul: sacrifice of everything for others, perfect non- attachment to lust and wealth, want of pride and egotism. The desire for animal food goes when these things are seen in a man.
