With paryushan coming up this week, it only seems right to let my Jain relatives know how shit really is. Okay, let’s do this without abusive language because I don’t want people fainting during their eight-day fasts.
I’ll address two points here, both related to diet. Jainism forbids the consumption of onions, garlic and potatoes.
Potatoes and other root plants, according to Jain websites, have millions of bacteria, and small insects are killed during the harvest of these plants. But has any Jain ever stopped to think how we get milk and dairy products? A cow is kept in captivity all its life in a tabela for its milk which another species wants to ingest. Even calves stop drinking their mother’s milk after a point, but we humans don’t understand that it’s unnatural to drink the milk of other animals. Being milked regularly, by the way, drastically decreases the lifespan of the cow, which is worse for your karma than eating a plate of French fries, don’t you think? Think about it the next time you reach out for a glass of buttermilk.
Onions and garlic are avoided because they inflame the passion, or to put it simply, increase sexual desire. In that case, Jains should avoid movies, music and television and even books and newspapers, because these will make them hornier than anything they eat will. Hell, stop looking at attractive people too.
Now before anyone tries to defend their stance with lame points, here’s the thing: If you eat onions or garlic or potatoes, you’re not a true Jain, because you’re breaking the rules that best set you apart from the rest of the world, so don’t bother trying to justify the other choices that were made for you before you could start thinking for yourself.
And if you drink milk or consume any dairy product, you’re a participant in a practice much crueler than eating bhelpuri the way normal people eat it – with kanda, bataka ane lasan ni chutney.
So you’re not a true Jain if you eat onions, garlic or potatoes, and it has just been proved that true Jainism isn’t all that cruelty-free either, which means you’re all poseurs. Happy paryushan.
Its interesting to knw ur point of view….though false and totally uneducated, its interesting!!
Isn’t it ironic and silly at the same time? That people still consume dairy products which emanates from a living animal such as cow which is revered in India. As you pointed out that milking the cows reduces their milk produce drastically which implies that their calves are denied their mother’s protein rich milk.
I mean, if you see from a point of view of a foodie. How good is that food without onion and potatoes? It’s bland to be honest. Adding spice is nice and onion is what gives Indian food its delectable taste to its various cuisines. Veering back to the point that you made aptly. Isn’t Buttermilk a supplementary drink after every meal in a Jain household? I believe it is. As I have experienced it first hand as I had been to my college buddy’s home for meals on several occasions during my college days.
Another thing I noticed is that they used to sit on the floor as it helps digestion. I am not an expert on it, but I found it very strange. No doubt, his family is very affectionate. But these little things are hard to ignore.
But it’s not just with Jains, such practices are prevalent in all cultures that make up the social fabric of our so called “21st Century Society”. Even the Society tea is truly refreshing. On that note, “Padhao nahin, Padho!” which loosely translates to (Don’t preach, learn.)
jains are dumb!
hey! dont call Jain’s dumb. Its years of conditioning and social pressure.
hahahahah
every middle aged Jain i know has 2 kids. so much for onions and garlic. buttermilk is made with lactobacilli and a glass of buttermilk may contain over 5 million of those. so much for “not hurting living organisms”
see the movie “Food Inc”.
agree completely about the milk and the rest of the stuff.
Hmm. I’m glad you wrote this without abuses!
Also, this is the first I have heard of Jains not eating onions and garlic because they “inflame the passion”.
I read it somewhere… I don’t usually say stuff like “inflame the passion”, haha!
Yeah, even I read it in a couple of places while trying to find out if it’s really true…!
Killing bacteria is sacrilege, but killing employees with low pay and working-saturdays is business model.
Hahahaha….
Word to this feller. WORD to this comment!
The irony of being a Jain is that whatever you do to follow the tenets, you still cannot be absolutely non-violent. Jain scriptures denounce the consumption of milk as well. In fact, every physical action that an individual takes involves sinning including something as elementary as breathing. I’m not comparing the milk consumption to breathing but what I want to point out is that nobody can survive without sinning and that is why Jains seek forgiveness for their sins every Paryushan. All Jains try to be non-violent to an extent that is possible for them as individuals.
Its not just potatoes, onions and garlic but almost all underground vegetables are shunned by Jains because they contain millions of micro-organisms; they are the “stems” or “roots” of the respective plants whereas other vegetables like tomatoes, lemons, etc. are the “fruits” of the respective plants which means that plucking the potatoes out would involve killing the entire plant.
I guess you might know all this as well since you are born Jain. You are free to follow the Jain path or shun it just as other Jain youth who consume non-vegetarian food secretly. But just remember, the tenets of Jainism have significant importance in modern times because Jainism preaches non-violence and care for the environment. You can do better than criticizing Jains at least out of respect of your parents or loved ones who have faith in the doctrine.
(There will be various arguments coming to your mind after reading this; but I won’t comment again here. If you wish to understand the message, the above explanation is enough and if you don’t then no explanation would be enough!)
Good luck and good day!
Totally agree with you. Today’s Jainism in practice and Jainism in theory are too far apart. I think the human has become too lazy and too impatient for true Jainism. Having said that, I feel its our duty to make an attempt at understanding the religion before criticizing it.
The Great Mahavira set the rules without taking into consideration the commercial “milking” practices of the Western world 2000 years before his time. In his time, the cow was not subject to the inhumane practices we see today.
As for contemporary Jainism, don’t criticize the religion or the followers. At least they’re making an attempt.
If Jains can’t question whether drinking milk in today’s times is right or wrong, they ought to be criticized.
Criticizing is diffrent and claiming they’re poseurs is a wholetogether diffrent thing.
Its upto a person whether he wants to believe in such a thing or not NO Person Is forced to Follow any religion Let alone Jainism
You can have your own view but you can’t say that thier beliefs are superficial and claim those people are wrong
While people may carry thier own thoughts and they maybe right but it doesn’t give any person to say that the group of people who follow a certain religion as ‘Poseurs’ as they don’t fit into your category of what actually jain’s should do ?? No hard feelings as i’ve had more than many debates about this topic and i can say one thing
Do you realize what you’re saying? If there wasn’t pressure on people, most would break themselves free of religion.
ya well It isn’t mentioned in any jain books that a person must must and must do this i know many jains who don’t follow it
and no person can be forced into following a particular religion and even if they are forced they should be freed else it would create a inner rebel in him which would devlop a hatred not only towards the beliefs but also towards the religion altogether
True. You’re right about this.
its the first time i am hearing about what a Jain is. But having heard, i think its a bit shitty
I think every religion is based on many important principles and i think you have to really understand them and then put your views. May be you are correct at your position or whatever you have seen but it is not 100 % correct. Every one have some belief so dont just hurt them, I hope in your life time you will get some time to understand Jainism, May God Bless you.
HAHA “God”… SURE.
Suggestion: change your blog name to ” Mehta the Jerk Kya Kehta”
First of all, I don’t claim to be perfect or a saint, just because I am Jain.
P.S: I am Vegan….so please get over your generalizations, when your done being a hater that is
Peace, Love and Jai Jinendra
Where have I said Jains claim to be perfect or saints? All I did was point out diet-related flaws in the philosophy. Was I wrong?
Hail Satan!
Hail Satan? LOL dude get over your pseudo-”rock” culture.
If you really want to understand the philosophy, make an attempt. Read the scriptures. Don’t generalize the religion based on your observation of the religion through your parents’ actions.
“LOL dude get over your pseudo-”rock” culture.”
LOL Dude, learn to recognize humour. Idiot.
I’ve thought several times about Jainism since a close friend strictly follows his religious beliefs.
In the world we live in, it is impossible to do anything without causing the loss of life to bacteria etc.
Yet, i think if someone makes attempts towards abiding by as many rules as possible and not intentionally violating them then its good for them, it means some people still try and live up to something they believe in.
Everyone is right to choose their own path and doctrine or choose none at all.
Your post, i haven’t checked its accuracy but in general its correct but your ideology is mixed up.
You criticise everything, fair. They believe and do what they think is correct, fair. Then why the bitterness ?
Is it because people really do believe in something and achieve satisfaction ? Is it because they try to give meaning and purpose to their existence other than a job and education ?
You should criticise the concept of Love, Marriage, Loyalty as well. They are all as fickle as every other belief/religion/discipline you have criticised. And by criticising i mean, you should never say you are in love or want to marry someone or expect someone to be loyal to you. It would be hypocrisy to accept Love etc.
Hope you get what im saying. Live & Let live.
Jainism does recognize consumption of milk and milk products as a sin. In fact consumption of anything which causes harm to any living organism is considered a sin. It is not possible to live life without committing a few sins and that is why we have “Paryushan” – to seek forgiveness. We, jains, are supposed to do something we call “Pratikrman” every fortnight but it is not possible to do so. Which is why it is done during Paryushan.
Jains are not poseurs.
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affiliates/jainism/ahimsa/jdayaisu.htm
I would love for you to read this once
Especially the milk and ethics part
That article proves that everything I’ve said is right. Jains are poseurs. Here’s an excerpt from the article you’ve shared:
“But there are two very odd things about our drinking cow’s milk. First, human beings are the only specie of mammal that drinks milk throughout adulthood. In other words, we are the only mammal that is never weaned. Furthermore, we are the only specie of mammal that drinks the milk of another specie! To realize how absurd this truly is, imagine a cat suckling a pig or a dog suckling a horse, or – and this is what we are truly doing when we consume milk – a human being suckling a cow’s udder.
We have been mislead in this country to believe that milk comes from contended cows living on idyllic country homesteads, generously giving us what is meant for their babies. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dairy cows are confined to concrete stalls 10 months out of the year, attached to electric milking machines 3 times a day, and forced to produce 3 to 4 times more milk than their progenitors. They are medicated, tranquilized, implanted with hormones, artificially inseminated and kept perpetually pregnant for one purpose only – to provide continual production of milk at the cheapest possible cost.
Their daughters are born into the same lifelong enslavement. But their sons face an even more gruesome tribulation. From birth they are chained and immobilized, forced to suffer deliberately induced anemia, and confined to wooden crates no bigger than an unfolded newspaper so that as they grow their crate becomes smaller and smaller. They are unable to experience even the most rudimentary pleasures of life such as nuzzling and nursing their mother, licking themselves, walking or even lying down! – until at the mere age of 4 months, these normally wide-eyed and frisky youngsters will be brutally slaughtered to be turned into that gastronomical delicacy called veal.
Their mothers, spent and exhausted, will endure only 4 years of what would normally be a 20-25 year lifespan. When they can no longer produce the demanded level of milk, they will be packed onto trucks for transport to their final destination – the slaughterhouse. There is no denying the ghastliness of the dairy industry and its extricable correlation to the horrors of meat production.
Those of us who strive and follow the path of Ahimsa must ask ourselves is this – once we are aware of and understand all of the implications and motivations behind our dietary choices, can we, in good conscience, continue to justify and rationalize choosing dairy? (An another point to consider is that we know that many of our Indian people die of heart diseases. One of the reasons is that our diet is very rich in dairy products, such as ghee, butter, cheese, and sweets, especially in the affluent Indian society. We definitely need to consider, very seriously, this link of high cholesterol and heart problems, and drastically cut down, if not totally eliminate, these milk products, for our own health, if not for cows.)”
thats why i posted it here im not saying you’re wrong im saying is there’s a way to adress any problem you can’t go out and start criticizing any religion bcoz you don’t get its beliefs ??? they wanna drink milk and not eat potatoes its upto them ???? Does Jainism force you to do it ??
and i really hate this debate so really sorry won’t be replying here you can reply to me on my mail i’ve specified !!!!!
Thanks regards and no hard feelings just a healthy debate
Oh, no no. I’m not arguing with you. It’s just that I write all these posts when I’m really angry. I know only this one way of knocking sense into people’s heads, so I write like this. You can say anything you want here in the comments sections. I like debates.
Don’t they have a Jain diary in Ahmadabad? i am guessing they have special milk coming from there.. not sure what it’s made of though..
Don’t they have a Jain Milk Diary in Ahmadabad? I keep wondering what is so special about the milk that is processed there..
You’re a narrow-minded nitwit who hasn’t been taught to respect people’s views, and have a broader view of the world.
On the contrary, I can see it like this because I have a broader view of the world. You can continue “respecting” the stupid views of people who are clueless about what they’re doing.
Dude get your facts rite first…about onion/potatoes and about being a true jain… Who are you to comment on some one’s belief w/o even knowing about religion or a set of principle one follows… Get a better hobby / life rather then commenting.. get your facts rite with milk.. 1st of all read about jainism if you want to comment on it and read thoroughly…
Dude, I was born in a Jain family.
For your information, drinking milk is a far more cruel practice than eating onions, garlic and potatoes.
YOU get your facts right.
All Praise the Lord!
Its funny how Aditya calls Jains poseurs and bashes religion so much when he himself got so upset over some idiot stepping on a linga. And he claims to be a satanist. What an idiot. Try not being a self righteous hypocritical asshole for a change. The only poseur here is you with your ignorant rants and your emo black metal crap. Photoshopping upside down crosses on a tshirt and an album cover of Hagrid standing outside his cabin. Who’s the poseur now?
Hi Vocab/Cripple Bastard! Who the fuck is Hagrid?
And I didn’t get upset about anybody doing anything, moron… I’m only disappointed that the Catholic wannabe didn’t get thrashed by the Hindutva fags.
Stupid fucking fag… “Samuel” LOL
Why are you upset bitch? If you hate religion so much why the fuck should something like that even affect you you shitbag? Calling others wannabes…..haaahhaah fucking madarchod
Because it’s fun when somebody has his face bashed in, you dork.
I wouldn’t go so far as calling them poseurs, but it sounds hypocritical when they have that “holier than thou” attitude. I love animals, but I’m not turning vegan until someone explains to me exactly why killing/hurting plants is ok but not animals. Most people just tend to say it’s less violent…
Some of my closest friends happen to be Jains. While they’re good people, I don’t exactly like going out on a dinner with them…no use really. I even avoid mentioning non-vegetarian foods – they’re visibly offended and uncomfortable with the sights, sound and even Google image pics of meat. Everytime I offer them things like cakes and chocolates, they double confirm to verify its vegetarian status. Well, I wouldn’t offer non-vegetarian to any practicing vegetarian but catering to Jain requirements is a tad difficult and challenging. A little bit of self-control is good for your mind and health (e.g. for alcohol consumption), but Jains and some other similar sects take this self-torture and self-denial to abnormal levels. It’s unhealthy to live in that way. You may feel “spiritually” clean but really, you’re missing out on so much more.
I couldn’t have said it better!
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