Virtues of Vegetarianism
Though in the Hebrew Bible is recorded the
belief that in the paradise the earliest human being had not eaten flesh,
evidence suggests that the Homo Sapiens
had developed a taste for meat soon after they found themselves on the mundane
earth. In a global perspective,
vegetarianism would not be found to be a very prominent strain in the cultural
make up of the peoples of the larger parts of the world. In spite of the often repeated belief
credited to the findings of science that the human food canal is so designed by
nature as to be friendly to vegetarian food alone, the carnivorous tendencies
of the human beings across the gamut of time and space have been found to be
amazingly strong. Eating of animal
flesh, sometimes combined with cannibalism, found widespread endorsement among
the prehistoric tribal religions, which dominated the globe prior to the
emergence of the major world religions of the day. Though cannibalism has declined amongst the
existing tribal people with the growth of civilisation, consumption of animal
flesh has by all accounts remained largely undiminished. Hinduism, the oldest among the major
religions of the day has not been completely unequivocal in renouncing animal
sacrifice and flesh eating, with mainly the dominant Vaishnav sects
unambiguously advocating complete avoidance of animal sacrifice and eating of
meat, fowl and fish. In the Christian
world, vegetarianism has found favour in actual practice among very few sects
like the Seventh Day Adventists who have always constituted a tiny
minority. Few votaries of vegetarianism
can be found in the Islamic world, although some Sufi mystics did recommend a
meatless diet for spiritual aspirants.
Jainism and Buddhism in India were more unequivocal about the killing of
animals and Buddhism carried the practice to north and east of the world as far
as China and Japan. However, in many
countries which came under the influence of the Buddhistic compassion a large
class of interpreters allowed themselves to be served meat of a carcass if
someone else supplied it. In some
countries fish were included in an otherwise fleshless diet. In short, the sublimating influence of the
more advanced religions of the world could also not persuade the larger part of
humanity to stop cruelty to animals for satiating their palate.
In the pre-modern era, the main grounds on
which vegetarianism was advocated were ethical and philosophic. Though vegetarianism was practised in India
much before the birth of Christ, the first major boost to vegetarianism came
around the middle of the Ist millennium BC more or less simultaneously in India
and in Eastern Mediterranean lands as part of the philosophical awakening of
the time. In India, Buddhists and Jains
led the movement, whereas in the Mediterranean lands it was the philosophy of
Pythagoras and his followers that gave it a thrust. The Pythagorean believed that the kinship of
all animals was one basis for human benevolence towards other creatures that
should not be killed for food. From
Plato onward many Pagan philosophers, e.g. Epicures, Plutarch and particularly
the Neoplatonists recommended a fleshless diet on principles of cosmic harmony in
accord with which human beings could live.
In the medieval era too the practice of vegetarianism was promoted
mostly by religious and philosophical movements, but at few places in the world
vegetarianism as a cultural practice and a way of life could gain as wide an
acceptance through the ancient and medieval periods as in India. This was
certainly in large measure due to the fact that religion remained the
predominant factor in the life of Indians from the prehistoric times and most
religions of the Indic origin preached compassion for all living beings with
varying degrees of emphasis. In the
medieval times, the practice was further reinforced by the surge of Bhakti Movement. It was only after the advent
of the modern period, especially in the 20th century, that vegetarianism in
practice started witnessing a sharp decline under the influence of the West,
which had never practised vegetarianism as a way of life on a large scale.
History is full of ironies. Until recently the lacto-vegetarian way of
life was practised in India by the majority and shunned in the West by
most. In an ironical reversal of the
situation, now it is the West that has come up in favour of the
lacto-vegetarian way of life, although there it still represents the norm
rather than the actual practice. The
change in the outlook this time has not been occasioned by religious faith or
philosophical awakening. It has also not
really been caused by a concern for the survival of other creatures on earth. Interestingly, this time the attitudinal
change has been brought about by mankind's concern for his own survival. The architect of this transformation has been
science and not philosophy.
Scientific research in the recent times
has shown that a vegetarian diet has several advantages over a non-vegetarian
one. A number of scientific surveys have
confirmed that vegetarians tend to be lighter in weight, or rather closer to
the desirable weight than the meat eaters.
This thesis may be earnestly contested by many of the television viewers
in India who have watched Mr. T.N. Seshan canvassing for vegetarianism. It must be conceded that Mr. Seshan's fulsome
figure does not do full justice to the ideals of vegetarianism. However, it may
be borne in mind that Mr. Seshan is always an exception rather than the rule.
Scientific research has also established that the greater the degree of
adherence to vegetarianism the lower the blood cholesterol tends to be which in
turn reduces the risk of heart disease.
Mr.R.L.Philips in ' Role of life
style and dietary habits in risk of cancer among Seventh Day Adventists’ has
recorded the results of a survey on the Seventh Day Adventists, which show that
the members of this Christian Sect had lower mortality rates than the general
population from cancer. A study in the Great Britain by P.N. Sweetnam and M.L.
Burr provides evidence of reduced mortality from heart disease among
vegetarians. It is today widely known
that dietary fibre has a great role to play in keeping at bay many ailments. However, it is perhaps not as widely known
that the fibrous looking animal flesh or meat as well as other animal food
products do not contain any dietary fibre. Plant food, on the other hand,
contains a lot. Another feature which
has drawn the attention of the scientific community in favour of vegetarianism
is that the cholesterol generated in the human body comes from animal sources,
which contain a lot of it. This is one
reason why food scientists recommend use of vegetable oils as cooking medium,
especially those, which do not contain saturated fat and do not freeze at room
temperature, rather than butter or 'ghee' (clarified butter) drawn from animal
milk. This has been already known for
long that a non-vegetarian diet, especially the animal flesh, puts the human digestive
system to considerable stress, which has adverse consequences for the whole
system. In addition, since meat is
procured usually from the market, it is not often fresh; and if the stuff is in
a degenerative state, it is fraught with formidable risks.
A controversy as to whether a
vegetarian diet could meet all our nutritional needs dragged on for some time
in the past. It is widely accepted now
that a lacto-vegetarian diet can provide us with all the nutrients and a number
of nutrients provided by such diets often exceed the Recommended Dietary
Allowance. It has been widely known for
quite sometime that fruits and green vegetables provide vitamins and minerals
in abundance. Doubts were, however,
expressed regarding the ability of the lacto-vegetarian diet to meet the
protein requirements of the human body.
Sometime back the issue was widely debated among the scientists but
thanks to the findings of research which are widely accepted now it has been
established that a lacto-vegetarian diet can easily meet the protein needs of
adults and children if they are properly planned. A purely vegetarian diet, it is well settled
now, can provide adequate amounts of all the nine essential amino acids. It may be recalled that milk from animal
sources forms part of a normal vegetarian diet regimen. The modern western concept of vegetarianism
includes eggs too. The non-fertilised
eggs or the eggs which are produced without the agency of a cock (the farm eggs
in the market are produced without cocks) do not have potential for life and
have been accepted as a part of vegetarian food by many since no harm is caused
to life in consuming them, just as in the case of milk. These animal protein sources which form part
of vegetarian food are also excellent sources of all the essential amino acids
and they are also admitted to be higher in biologic value than meat. The
traditional Indian concept of vegetarianism does not include eggs, and it is
established that a vegetarian diet with milk and without eggs is sufficient to
take care of all our nutritional needs including the protein needs. Due to
unusual concentration of cholesterol in the egg yellow, consumption of too many
eggs is not recommended even in the West. The protein controversy related to
vegetarian diet has been, therefore, finally laid to rest.
In
scientific acceptance of vegetarianism, discovery of abundant protein in the
plant kingdom has been important. However, more than protein, it is the
ecological concern that has given impetus to the movement that has built up in
favour of vegetarianism in many places in the world. A diet that includes a
large proportion of food of animal origin places a drain on the meagre natural
resources, namely fuel, water, and land. A vegetarian diet has a favourable
ecological effect because a much smaller quantity of grain and legumes is
required for feeding people directly than for feeding animals. This has the
effects of less land being needed for cultivation and less fuel being required
for making fuel-based fertilisers, operating agricultural machinery, and transporting
and storing food. A vegetarian way of life also makes lesser demands on water
that may be needed for maintaining livestock and rearing crops for animal feed.
Clearly, it would be possible to feed many more people a vegetarian rather than
a meat-based diet. However, the question that painfully and unceasingly
glimmers in the eyes of an animal is neither scientific nor ecological: How
long will man take in his journey towards civilisation to be mindful of the
suffering of other sentient beings that happen to share the planet with him,
and how long will he take to expand the scope of his ethics of non-violence and
civilised behaviour to include other living beings whom he sacrifices to the
cravings of his own poor palate?
