From: R K DAGA <rajendrak_daga@...>
Subject: Re: [JainList] 'Sarita' Magazine discriminated Jain Religion & Saints. 'VIRODH SABHA' on 30th May,11 am onwards
To: jainlist@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, 30 May, 2008, 7:04 PM

Sadar Jai Jinendra,

Jains are targeted several times but united we have overcome. I apppeal to all Jains to not only participate in Virodh Sabha but also to write to the Publisher and boycott the magazine.

Warm regards,
Rajendra

From: mehul_turakhia <mehul_turakhia@...>
Subject: [JainList] Re: Defining "Jain food"
To: jainlist@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008, 5:15 PM

Dear friends,

Jain food is often on the discussions. Here are some additional
views on the above.

For simplification, the description is for Food rather than Jain
food based on certain references based on swetambar traditions/ old
texts .

We will try to see Food (Ahar �Sanskrit /hindi) from four classical
standpoints.

Dravya (Substance)

Following could be different classifications.

(A)
Food made from ekendriya generally vegetations, water, with fire as
enabling element.
Food made from two to five sensed beings. (With use of ekendriya as
enabling elements like water, fire ) Two sensed living beings are
consumed as many sea products
Food made from animal derivatives � milk and other derived products.
With pain / without pain to animals giving milk .

(B)
Rom ahar (food consumed by body pores consumed by all living from
one to five sensed)
Kaval ahar (food consumed by hands/ mouthful of food)
Oj ahar (food used in body formation for Garbaj (five sensed lives
which are produced in wombs) Pachendriya . This is done in first
moments of conceivement of life -chyavan stage . This is made from
combinations nutrients from both the parents � Sukra and Ras as
termed in classical texts or sperm and ovum in scientific texts. In
Agamic reference it is found that as long as one is alive a micro
portion of this oj ahar is present in the living being. i.e. when
one dies the last portion of oj ahar taken during birth is fully
exhausted .

( C)
There are two classical types of ahar .
Sachet ahar and Achet ahar.
Sachet is food which has still a few life quantum in it due to non
destruction due to heat / fire etc., or food which is not totally
achet yet.
a. juices mixed with seed particles where there is doubt of
life not fully eliminated
b. Cut fruit particles where life forms could still exist as it
is untreated with fire.
c. Vegetation not subjected to fire, heat etc. so life form is
alive. Salads, sprouts, partially cooked foods, achet sprinkled with
sachet eg. khaman with linseeds, dhaniya etc.
d. Many dry fruits which are not heat treated. Liquid
preparations with spread dry fruits like shrikhand with raw dry
fruits toppings, fruit salads.
e. Old achet food where there is chance of new life forms like
insects etc., old dry fruits, yeast on stale foods, new life forms
in spoiled food.
f. Similarly sachet water and achet water, like raw water, half
boiled water, boiled and cooled water after few hours, i.e.
elapsing of time spans,

(D) Food from acceptability norms

Food acceptable to sadhus including tirthankar for gochari and food
acceptable to shravaks who have adopted 12 th vrat during their
dining. This is Achet ahar and achet water.
Food acceptable to shravaks in vrats like ayambil, ekasana,
varshitap ,
Food which is acceptable to dravya shravaks in his life time.
(generally our discussions are around this topic in terms of milk
products, ethical aspects of milk extraction, methods and
consumption, acceptability of root consumptions, acceptability norms
of different sects, different sub sects etc. )

(E) Food as different vargana � the food particles of audarik jiva
is different from food particles of vaikriya jiva . Food particles
of yugalk are different from bharat kshetra , though jiva of yugalik
and bharat kshetra are both audarik.

(f) the thoks of Jivabhigam ang agam like Laghu dandak lists 266
different types of food.

Kshetra (space perspective )

(A) Food as found in different places of loka like bharat kshetra,
mahavideha, yugalik kshetra, in dev lok, narakawas, etc. right upto
end of loka. Here the example of Rom ahar is quite interesting.
Imagine the loka composed of cuboid pixels. Then the extreme pixels
at the boundaries of loka will have contact with next pixel along 3
faces. Laghu dandak from Jivabhigam ang agam states that the jiva on
extreme portion of loka takes rom ahar from 3 directions. i.e. 3
contact faces. These are ekendriya jiva of badar vayukaya and five
types of suksma ekendriya. Similarly jiva in the penultimate akash
pradesh takes ahar from 4 or 5 directions. All the rest of jiva in
the loka take ahar from 6 directions. i.e. east, west, north ,
south and top and bottom.

Kaal ( Time perspective )

It is found in Thananga ang agam that there is a quadruplet .
Food cooked in day and consumed in day.
Food cooked in day and consumed in night
Food cooked in night and consumed in day
Food cooked in night and consumed in night.

The first one is totally pure, rest are avoidable due to lack of
purity, or partial purity.

Bhava Perspective.
These needs review from nikshep stand point.

Our discussion on food aspects is one subset of nikshep stand point.

Other Bibliographical references from agams are given below.

1. Avashyak pratikraman sutra. It is found in seventh vrat that
atichar of vrat is "sachitta ahare" , i.e. shravaks should avoid
sachet ahar, salads etc.
2. The 12 th vrat is very important for shravak. It disciplines
his diet to achet and also automatically he is eligible to offer
food to saints and even tirthankars while on gochari. One can study
5 atichar of 12 th vrat.
3. Acharang ang agam describes 21 types of Dhovan water(Achet )
and gochari style of mahavir swami during his chhadamasth kaal.
4. Bhagawati ang agam describes gochari style of many saints,
Tirthankar naam karma of Rewati shravika, Paushadh after food of
Sankh and Pokkhali shravak, and many different lifestyles of
shravak, including shravaks of Tungiapur who were following 12
vrats.
5. Upasak dasa ang agam describes that all 10 shravaks like
Anand shravak , Kamdev shravak etc. had adopted 12 vrats. In spite
of great opulence, they followed gochari lifestyle in their pratimas
during later part of life even without diksha.
6. Antagad dasa anga agam describles Gochari of different
saints including Gautam swami , and virtues of Devki (mother of
Krishna) setting one of the ideal benchmark of a donor of supatra
daan.
7. Sukh vipak anga agam describes that prince like Subahu kumar
made sansar paritta by supatra daan. There are 10 ideal cases. One
of them donates to a tirthankar .
8. Dasvaikalik agam describes bhikhsa and gochari in great
details from perspective of a sadhu and a shravak- donor. It is a
great reading for advanced students of Jainism. It opens many
insights into food aspects of Prasuk and eshaniya food ( prashuk �
achet and eshaniya is food which is acceptable to sadhus).
Dasavaikalika agam describes that ideal donor is also durlab (rare)
in this world apart from ideal receiver.
9. Uttaradhyayan describes 5 samitis, the third samiti deals
with alertness required in searching for food during travel (to and
fro), alertness while accepting gochari and alertness while
consumption of food. It also describes 6 reasons for eating and 6
reasons for avoiding food.
10. There are about 100+ mistakes in taking gochari (Bhiksa
dosh ) in various agams . they are worth reading and learning. There
are other references too.
11. There is detail description of jiva in Pannavana upang etc.
which increases awareness of sachet and achet.
12. There are old texts like Pinda niryukti dealing with gochari
etc.
13. Thus all above shows importance of knowledge related
with "food which is acceptable to sadhus" . It appears that the food
consumed by shravak with 12 th vrat is ideal Jain food. However this
does not rule out appreciation of varying degree of restraints
exercised by different sadhaks as per their capacity of tyag.

All errors are mine. No offence to any one is intended.

Mehul

Traditionally vegetarianism is practiced by most cultures for reasons of compassion and reverence for life and non-violence, and the Jains are no exception to this. However, the definition and understanding of non-violence by Jains goes much deeper than others that this author has come across. The medical reasons for being a vegetarian are relatively a modern phenomenon mostly during the past half a century or so, during which period developments in the modern medicine have established links between certain ailments and the non-vegetarian diet. The very fundamental question that is often asked of a vegetarians is, "If non-violence is the basis of vegetarianism, why eat plant based foods?

Don't plants have life?" In this respects Jains perhaps were the very first ones to acknowledge that plants are a life form, long before it was established by the modern day biological sciences. Jains recognize five physical senses namely touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing as the principal attributes of living beings. All life forms in the universe are then classified in terms of the senses found in various creatures. Here as a word of caution, the senses should not be confused with other attributes of life, such as breathing, circulatory and nervous systems, heart and brain etc. that are dealt with as a separate topic in Jainism. The lowest life forms are those with only one sense, the sense of touch, such as the plant life, the highest life forms have all the fives senses such as human beings, mammals and most of the animal kingdom. The other intermediary life forms are the living beings with: two senses - touch and taste such as an earth worm, three senses - touch, taste and smell such as lice, and four senses- touch, taste, smell and sight for example mosquitoes. Senses appear in various living beings strictly in the order specified, i.e., touch is the most primitive of all senses, and hearing is the last sense found at the most advanced stage of development. No other combinations of these senses are known to exist. This in itself may be the most remarkable contribution of ancient Jains to the modern life sciences on the evolution of living beings.

Having classified all life forms in this manner, and realizing that human beings must eat to derive their nutrition and to survive, life with only one sense, that is basically plant life, is the only permitted food for human consumption. To reconcile the principle of non-violence with the consumption of plant based diet, and to preserve plant-life as best as possible, there are strict dietary codes of practice recommended for day to day living. These include prohibition on the consumption of some vegetables and fruits, restrictions on procurement of produce, restrictions of times and timings, fasting, recommended occupations etc. Such codes, with their feasible interpretations follow.

GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON PLANT BASED EDIBLES

Vegetables and fruits that grow underground (roots of plants) are prohibited as a general rule. Clearly enough, to procure such vegetables and fruits, one must pull out the plant from the root, thus destroying the entire plant, and with it all the other micro organisms around the root. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off, or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In case they are plucked from the plants, only as much as required should be procured and consumed without waste. Grains, such as wheat, rice, maize, beans are obtained when the plants or the pods are dry and dead. Cutting down of green trees for wood or any other use is strictly prohibited. This is indeed a shining example of "conservation" in ancient times, which modern civilization is still trying to find ways for.

An orthodox Jain fasts twice a fortnight, on the eighth and the fourteenth day of the full and the new moon cycles of the lunar calendar Some fast even thrice, including the fifth day of the two lunar cycles. During fasting only food prepared from grains is consumed and no green vegetables or fruits are eaten.

In context of "root vegetables and fruits," most modern day Jains have devised self-imposed restrictions, not sanctioned by the religion. The majority of Jains with the exception of the orthodox, traditional ones, eat most of the underground vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips etc. for reasons of social convenience (after all they fall within the regime of a vegetarian diet). Even amongst these exceptions, a large percentage still do not eat onions and garlic. The reasons advanced is their strong odor and that they are Tamsik, food that leads to lethargic action.

It is a common saying that "One is what one eats". But Jains go much farther in defining the character of an individual. According to them "One is what one thinks", a fact that any criminal and social psychologist shall confirm. Violence in thought is as detrimental to the development of character as violence in action. To this extent, candies and chocolates shaped as animals are generally not consumed in Jain families. Imagine a child going around eating the "head of a rabbit" or "leg of a man". What will be his/ her psychology and personality? If you want to eat chocolate, just do that, why lace it with an unappetizing thought of cruelty to animals and/ or cannibalism. Orthodox Jains do not even eat cooked/ prepared food from the shops. All food should be prepared within the house under the most hygienic conditions.

SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS ON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

A group of five fruits from the fig family, termed the Five Udambars in Jain literature are not permitted. Modern biological sciences have established that these fruits, produced by the pollination of flowers by wasps, are inhabited by species of wasps specific to each. For example, the entire life cycle of the wasp "Blastophaga grossorum" is completed within the fig "Ficus carica". The wasp lays its eggs in the gall flowers and dies, the eggs mature within the fig and produce male and female wasps. Wingless males fertilize the females and die, and the females emerge from the fig to restart the cycle. Thus the fig contains the remnants of the eggs and dead wasps. (RE: The Earth, It's Wonders, It's Secrets: NATURE'S MASTERPIECES, Reader's Digest Publication, pp99, 1994).

Very orthodox Jains do not eat even multi-seeded fruits and vegetables such as brinjal (egg plant) and guava. Such fruits and vegetables are often found to contain worms, although this may not be the case with the use of insecticides in farming. But what do the advocates of health food and environmental conservationists have to say about the use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers? Some years ago, this author personally carried out a controlled but informal experiment to affirm this. Very clean and smooth brinjal and guavas, with no mark or blemish on the outside and having no external evidence of a worm entering it were found to have hives of worms inside. On discussing this find with fellow biologists in academia, it was explained that certain insects lay their eggs in the flower that are sealed inside these fruits and vegetables and develop in to worms leaving no indication on the external surface. This is somewhat similar to the life cycle of the wasp in the fig. These days, although most Jains will eat such fruits and vegetables, they generally cut and carefully examine them before cooking, whereas the most common Indian method of cooking brinjal among other communities is to roast it whole, till it bursts with steam, and then prepare it for eating without any concern for worms inside, and how it may effect one's health.

Cauliflower and broccoli that have velvety surfaces are not consumed by orthodox Jains. Very tiny flee like flying insects that grow in and around the farms, get stuck on to their velvety surfaces, and can not be fully removed in spite of careful washing.

Mushrooms and fungus are not used by Jain families because they are said to grow under unhygienic conditions and are parasites. Honey, vinegar, molases and wine of course are a taboo. Vegetables, like jack fruit, that bleed on cutting and when prepared have the appearance of cooked meat are not very appetizing to most Jains.

Cabbage should be peeled layer by layer, each leaf cleaned and washed before cutting and cooking, because there may be insects and worms resident in between the leaves, although these days not many cut cabbage in this manner. Other leafy vegetables, such as spinach etc., should also be inspected and cleaned leaf-by-leaf to prepare for cooking and eating.

Food Items To Be Avoided By Jains

A list of Food items to be avoided by all Jains is given herein below.Mostly Jains do not avoid all of the above, while Flesh, Poison and Earth are obviously shunned by all. Many jain are also keen to avoid Alcohol , varak(silver- foil), silk,Wool,honey and anything which is grown underground (such as potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.) since they involve the unnecessary death of the whole plant and the disruption of many Jivas, both visible and microscopic, that dwell in soil. Monks and nuns, however, must take great care to avoid every item on the list. During times of penance, and especially during the annual observance of Paryushana, laypersons are also enjoined to shun each one of them, completely.

1.   Bhumikand (tubers)
2.   Green Haldar (turmeric)
3.   Green Ginger
4.   Suran
5.   Vajra
6.   Green Kachuro
7.   Shatavari Creepers
8.   Virali Creepers
9.   Kunver Pathu
10. Cactus
11. Galo
12. Garlic
13. Bambo Karela
14. Carrot
15. Lini (Bhaji)
16. Lodhak
17. Garmar
18. Kisalaya (sprouts)
19. Khirsua
20. Theg
21. Green moth [not referring to an insect!]
22. Bark of the Lun tree
23. Kholida
24. Amrit Creeper
25. Five parts of the radish (mula)
26. Fungi, includes Yeast.
27. Vatthula bhaji
28. Sprouted pulses
29. Palak bhaji
30. Suar amali
31. Unripe amali
32. Potato, ratalu, pindalu
33. Dvidal (Pulses which produce no oil) i.e. mustard seeds, all kathor, peas etc., cannot be eaten with yoghurt.
34. Gram flour
35. Chalit Rasa (decayed or stale items)
36. Many-seeded vegetables
37. Eggplant (brinjal)
38. "Unknown" fruits
39. Pods of the Banyan tree
40. Pods of the Umbara
41. Pods of the Pipal tree
42. Pods of Plux
43. Ananta-kaya (literally "infinite bodies")
44. Vinegar

RESTRICTIONS ON TIMINGS AND TIME LIMITS

Food must be cooked and eaten during day-light hours only. Orthodox Jains do not cook or consume anything, even water, before sunrise or after sunset. Cooking food at night leads to the killing of various creatures by the fire. In ancient times when there were no adequate lighting such creatures could even be large ones such as birds, snakes, rodents, squirrels, lizards that could be hiding in the wood or coal. Insects that are attracted to fire could fall straight into the food. In modern times, where one may have bright lights for cooking at night, killing of insects attracted by light and their falling into the food still presents a strong possibility. Further more while eating at night, a number of insects are attracted to the smell of food and could easily become a part of ones food. In a different context, going to bed soon after late meals is not a good health practice. Eating before sunset, i.e., a couple of hours before going to bed does have relevance.

All food must be cooked fresh daily. Food cooked during the day light should be consumed within the same day, but cooked food left overnight is prohibited. There are various possibilities for such a guideline, for example to avoid the wastage of food as there were no refrigerators during ancient times, with inadequate storage facilities insects may crawl into the food left overnight, the sun's UV light acts as a protection against growth of bacteria in the food, but in the cold and darkness there could be rapid growth of bacteria or fungus perhaps not large enough to be visible to the eye. For the same reason, flour and spices should be ground fresh, and they and a number of other foods must be used within a specified period which depends on the season and the product. As an example ground spices and flour of any grain has a validity of 3 days during the rains, 5 days in summer and 7 days in winter. This practice also ensures freshness, flavor and good taste of these ingredients. How much more scientific could one get during ancient times, when we know that even in today's scientific world all food products on supermarket shelves, even though mostly chemically preserved, are marked with an expiry date.

WATER AND DAIRY PRODUCTS

Water must be filtered through three layers of home-spun cotton cloth. Cotton cloth, when wet behaves as a cotton pad; water passes through it by the process of surface tension, and not through gaps between fibres of the cloth as will be the case if one used cloth made of synthetic or vegetable fibre (synthetic fibers were perhaps unknown, but the vegetable fibres such as jute were known). This provides the most effective filtration of non-soluble, suspended contamination and of micro organisms, but will not remove the dissolved impurities. However, such contamination of water was almost unknown as there was no dumping of waste in rivers or other water bodies, and the use of insecticides in agriculture did not exist. Water, with its life-supporting attribute for all living beings and its importance in agriculture, was regarded with reverence. Even with the current crises of clean drinking water in most developing countries, filtering water through a thick cotton cloth provides a convenient and cheapest means for cleaning water for drinking and cooking, where other means are not available, and is practiced by most Jains even today. After filtering the water, the cloth should be rinsed in a river or well to return any living organism to its habitat. Can there be a better example of co-existence of human being with their environment even at the microbe level?

Jains are not Vegans. The use of dairy products is permitted provided they are procured and prepared as per the laid down rules. Before milking a cow, young calves, if any, should be allowed to suckle up to about one third of the expected yield. The milk should be heated within 48 minutes of milking, bringing it to three-boils, and consumed within 24 hours. Compare this to the modern pasteurization of milk at 65o for 30 minutes. Yoghurt is not allowed unless prepared daily, fresh from boiled milk, using the leaf of a certain plant and consumed within 24 hours. Using the previous day's yoghurt for the starter to set it is prohibited. Cheese ans yoghurt, as we know them today, even if vegetarian, shall be classified as stale, and hence not edible.

MORE AT http://jainism.co.nr

Live and Let Live   

 

From: atul bafna <abafna@...>
Subject: [JainList] JAIN - FOOD
To: ahinsa@yahoogroups.com
Cc: jainlist@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, June 6, 2008, 10:23 AM

WHY VEGETARIAN: DON'T PLANTS HAVE LIFE ? Traditionally vegetarianism is practiced by most cultures for reasons of compassion and reverence for life and non-violence, and the Jains are no exception to this. However, the definition and understanding of non-violence by Jains goes much deeper than others that this author has come across. The medical reasons for being a vegetarian are relatively a modern phenomenon mostly during the past half a century or so, during which period developments in the modern medicine have established links between certain ailments and the non-vegetarian diet. The very fundamental question that is often asked of a vegetarians is, "If non-violence is the basis of vegetarianism, why eat plant based foods? Don't plants have life?" In this respects Jains perhaps were the very first ones to acknowledge that plants are a life form, long before it was established by the modern day biological sciences. Jains recognize five physical senses namely touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing as the principal attributes of living beings. All life forms in the universe are then classified in terms of the senses found in various creatures. Here as a word of caution, the senses should not be confused with other attributes of life, such as breathing, circulatory and nervous systems, heart and brain etc. that are dealt with as a separate topic in Jainism. The lowest life forms are those with only one sense, the sense of touch, such as the plant life, the highest life forms have all the fives senses such as human beings, mammals and most of the animal kingdom. The other intermediary life forms are the living beings with: two senses - touch and taste such as an earth worm, three senses - touch, taste and smell such as lice, and four senses- touch, taste, smell and sight for example mosquitoes. Senses appear in various living beings strictly in the order specified, i.e., touch is the most primitive of all senses, and hearing is the last sense found at the most advanced stage of development. No other combinations of these senses are known to exist. This in itself may be the most remarkable contribution of ancient Jains to the modern life sciences on the evolution of living beings. Having classified all life forms in this manner, and realizing that human beings must eat to derive their nutrition and to survive, life with only one sense, that is basically plant life, is the only permitted food for human consumption. To reconcile the principle of non-violence with the consumption of plant based diet, and to preserve plant-life as best as possible, there are strict dietary codes of practice recommended for day to day living. These include prohibition on the consumption of some vegetables and fruits, restrictions on procurement of produce, restrictions of times and timings, fasting, recommended occupations etc. Such codes, with their feasible interpretations follow. GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON PLANT BASED EDIBLES Vegetables and fruits that grow underground (roots of plants) are prohibited as a general rule. Clearly enough, to procure such vegetables and fruits, one must pull out the plant from the root, thus destroying the entire plant, and with it all the other micro organisms around the root. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off, or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In case they are plucked from the plants, only as much as required should be procured and consumed without waste. Grains, such as wheat, rice, maize, beans are obtained when the plants or the pods are dry and dead. Cutting down of green trees for wood or any other use is strictly prohibited. This is indeed a shining example of "conservation" in ancient times, which modern civilization is still trying to find ways for. An orthodox Jain fasts twice a fortnight, on the eighth and the fourteenth day of the full and the new moon cycles of the lunar calendar Some fast even thrice, including the fifth day of the two lunar cycles. During fasting only food prepared from grains is consumed and no green vegetables or fruits are eaten. In context of "root vegetables and fruits," most modern day Jains have devised self-imposed restrictions, not sanctioned by the religion. The majority of Jains with the exception of the orthodox, traditional ones, eat most of the underground vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnips etc. for reasons of social convenience (after all they fall within the regime of a vegetarian diet). Even amongst these exceptions, a large percentage still do not eat onions and garlic. The reasons advanced is their strong odor and that they are Tamsik, food that leads to lethargic action. It is a common saying that "One is what one eats". But Jains go much farther in defining the character of an individual. According to them "One is what one thinks", a fact that any criminal and social psychologist shall confirm. Violence in thought is as detrimental to the development of character as violence in action. To this extent, candies and chocolates shaped as animals are generally not consumed in Jain families. Imagine a child going around eating the "head of a rabbit" or "leg of a man". What will be his/ her psychology and personality? If you want to eat chocolate, just do that, why lace it with an unappetizing thought of cruelty to animals and/ or cannibalism. Orthodox Jains do not even eat cooked/ prepared food from the shops. All food should be prepared within the house under the most hygienic conditions. SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS ON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES A group of five fruits from the fig family, termed the Five Udambars in Jain literature are not permitted. Modern biological sciences have established that these fruits, produced by the pollination of flowers by wasps, are inhabited by species of wasps specific to each. For example, the entire life cycle of the wasp "Blastophaga grossorum" is completed within the fig "Ficus carica". The wasp lays its eggs in the gall flowers and dies, the eggs mature within the fig and produce male and female wasps. Wingless males fertilize the females and die, and the females emerge from the fig to restart the cycle. Thus the fig contains the remnants of the eggs and dead wasps. (RE: The Earth, It's Wonders, It's Secrets: NATURE'S MASTERPIECES, Reader's Digest Publication, pp99, 1994). Very orthodox Jains do not eat even multi-seeded fruits and vegetables such as brinjal (egg plant) and guava. Such fruits and vegetables are often found to contain worms, although this may not be the case with the use of insecticides in farming. But what do the advocates of health food and environmental conservationists have to say about the use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers? Some years ago, this author personally carried out a controlled but informal experiment to affirm this. Very clean and smooth brinjal and guavas, with no mark or blemish on the outside and having no external evidence of a worm entering it were found to have hives of worms inside. On discussing this find with fellow biologists in academia, it was explained that certain insects lay their eggs in the flower that are sealed inside these fruits and vegetables and develop in to worms leaving no indication on the external surface. This is somewhat similar to the life cycle of the wasp in the fig. These days, although most Jains will eat such fruits and vegetables, they generally cut and carefully examine them before cooking, whereas the most common Indian method of cooking brinjal among other communities is to roast it whole, till it bursts with steam, and then prepare it for eating without any concern for worms inside, and how it may effect one's health. Cauliflower and broccoli that have velvety surfaces are not consumed by orthodox Jains. Very tiny flee like flying insects that grow in and around the farms, get stuck on to their velvety surfaces, and can not be fully removed in spite of careful washing. Mushrooms and fungus are not used by Jain families because they are said to grow under unhygienic conditions and are parasites. Honey, vinegar, molases and wine of course are a taboo. Vegetables, like jack fruit, that bleed on cutting and when prepared have the appearance of cooked meat are not very appetizing to most Jains. Cabbage should be peeled layer by layer, each leaf cleaned and washed before cutting and cooking, because there may be insects and worms resident in between the leaves, although these days not many cut cabbage in this manner. Other leafy vegetables, such as spinach etc., should also be inspected and cleaned leaf-by-leaf to prepare for cooking and eating. Food Items To Be Avoided By Jains A list of Food items to be avoided by all Jains is given herein below.Mostly Jains do not avoid all of the above, while Flesh, Poison and Earth are obviously shunned by all. Many jain are also keen to avoid Alcohol , varak(silver- foil), silk,Wool,honey and anything which is grown underground (such as potatoes, carrots, onions, etc.) since they involve the unnecessary death of the whole plant and the disruption of many Jivas, both visible and microscopic, that dwell in soil. Monks and nuns, however, must take great care to avoid every item on the list. During times of penance, and especially during the annual observance of Paryushana, laypersons are also enjoined to shun each one of them, completely. 1.   Bhumikand (tubers) 2.   Green Haldar (turmeric) 3.   Green Ginger 4.   Suran 5.   Vajra 6.   Green Kachuro 7.   Shatavari Creepers 8.   Virali Creepers 9.   Kunver Pathu 10. Cactus 11. Galo 12. Garlic 13. Bambo Karela 14. Carrot 15. Lini (Bhaji) 16. Lodhak 17. Garmar 18. Kisalaya (sprouts) 19. Khirsua 20. Theg 21. Green moth [not referring to an insect!] 22. Bark of the Lun tree 23. Kholida 24. Amrit Creeper 25. Five parts of the radish (mula) 26. Fungi, includes Yeast. 27. Vatthula bhaji 28. Sprouted pulses 29. Palak bhaji 30. Suar amali 31. Unripe amali 32. Potato, ratalu, pindalu 33. Dvidal (Pulses which produce no oil) i.e. mustard seeds, all kathor, peas etc., cannot be eaten with yoghurt. 34. Gram flour 35. Chalit Rasa (decayed or stale items) 36. Many-seeded vegetables 37. Eggplant (brinjal) 38. "Unknown" fruits 39. Pods of the Banyan tree 40. Pods of the Umbara 41. Pods of the Pipal tree 42. Pods of Plux 43. Ananta-kaya (literally "infinite bodies") 44. Vinegar RESTRICTIONS ON TIMINGS AND TIME LIMITS Food must be cooked and eaten during day-light hours only. Orthodox Jains do not cook or consume anything, even water, before sunrise or after sunset. Cooking food at night leads to the killing of various creatures by the fire. In ancient times when there were no adequate lighting such creatures could even be large ones such as birds, snakes, rodents, squirrels, lizards that could be hiding in the wood or coal. Insects that are attracted to fire could fall straight into the food. In modern times, where one may have bright lights for cooking at night, killing of insects attracted by light and their falling into the food still presents a strong possibility. Further more while eating at night, a number of insects are attracted to the smell of food and could easily become a part of ones food. In a different context, going to bed soon after late meals is not a good health practice. Eating before sunset, i.e., a couple of hours before going to bed does have relevance. All food must be cooked fresh daily. Food cooked during the day light should be consumed within the same day, but cooked food left overnight is prohibited. There are various possibilities for such a guideline, for example to avoid the wastage of food as there were no refrigerators during ancient times, with inadequate storage facilities insects may crawl into the food left overnight, the sun's UV light acts as a protection against growth of bacteria in the food, but in the cold and darkness there could be rapid growth of bacteria or fungus perhaps not large enough to be visible to the eye. For the same reason, flour and spices should be ground fresh, and they and a number of other foods must be used within a specified period which depends on the season and the product. As an example ground spices and flour of any grain has a validity of 3 days during the rains, 5 days in summer and 7 days in winter. This practice also ensures freshness, flavor and good taste of these ingredients. How much more scientific could one get during ancient times, when we know that even in today's scientific world all food products on supermarket shelves, even though mostly chemically preserved, are marked with an expiry date. WATER AND DAIRY PRODUCTS Water must be filtered through three layers of home-spun cotton cloth. Cotton cloth, when wet behaves as a cotton pad; water passes through it by the process of surface tension, and not through gaps between fibres of the cloth as will be the case if one used cloth made of synthetic or vegetable fibre (synthetic fibers were perhaps unknown, but the vegetable fibres such as jute were known). This provides the most effective filtration of non-soluble, suspended contamination and of micro organisms, but will not remove the dissolved impurities. However, such contamination of water was almost unknown as there was no dumping of waste in rivers or other water bodies, and the use of insecticides in agriculture did not exist. Water, with its life-supporting attribute for all living beings and its importance in agriculture, was regarded with reverence. Even with the current crises of clean drinking water in most developing countries, filtering water through a thick cotton cloth provides a convenient and cheapest means for cleaning water for drinking and cooking, where other means are not available, and is practiced by most Jains even today. After filtering the water, the cloth should be rinsed in a river or well to return any living organism to its habitat. Can there be a better example of co-existence of human being with their environment even at the microbe level? Jains are not Vegans. The use of dairy products is permitted provided they are procured and prepared as per the laid down rules. Before milking a cow, young calves, if any, should be allowed to suckle up to about one third of the expected yield. The milk should be heated within 48 minutes of milking, bringing it to three-boils, and consumed within 24 hours. Compare this to the modern pasteurization of milk at 65o for 30 minutes. Yoghurt is not allowed unless prepared daily, fresh from boiled milk, using the leaf of a certain plant and consumed within 24 hours. Using the previous day's yoghurt for the starter to set it is prohibited. Cheese ans yoghurt, as we know them today, even if vegetarian, shall be classified as stale, and hence not edible. MORE AT http://jainism. co.nr Live and Let Live