Food is really the most important thing in our life. The Vedas say that “Food is verily the Brahman.” We will not be able to live without food. Strangely enough, we human beings don’t seem to know this fact. In our modern society we take food for granted. All we have to do is to go to a supermarket and buy whatever we want or if we are too lazy to cook for ourselves, we just walk into any restaurant which are plentiful in most cities and eat what we like. It is only when we go to those places where food is scarce and people even die of starvation that we begin to realise the importance of food.
The ancient science of health known as Ayurveda in India was the first to understand the importance of food. They gave us this axiom – “Let food be your medicine and your medicine -food.” In plain language this means that the type of food we eat is the key to our health! If you want to have a healthy life, you will have to be choosy about the food you eat.
Unfortunately, most people have very little idea about the type of food that we should eat and the method of eating. We eat foods that titillate our palates and not foods that suit the needs of our body! After some years of these senseless eating habits, the body naturally revolts and gives signs of disease and decay. Our bodies are the most perfect machines that the human mind can conceive. From the time of conception to the time of death, it can run perfectly even though it might show signs of wear and tear with the onset of age. But that is only natural. However, due to the wrong foods and wrong lifestyle that we follow, the body can no longer cope with the damage. We find that people succumb to all sorts of diseases at younger and younger ages. Given the right type of food, the body is capable of withstanding most onslaughts and even curing diseases that it might have incurred. But when mistakes are made day after day, year after year, the mechanism collapses.
All machines come with an instruction manual. If read and followed faithfully, the machine will give us maximum performance. If it is not followed, it stands to reason that the machine will be cranky and slow down and eventually stop functioning altogether. This is what is happening to our bodies now. Sanatana Dharma gives us very good instructions on the type and quality of foods that we should eat and the method and the time and so many other important factors which have been completely ignored by the modern generation. Our food habits are now changing to fast foods and other exotic foods coming from the west. These may be delicious and easy to prepare, but they are not the best for our bodies. As I said, now we are starting to eat only for the sake of the palate, totally disregarding the needs of our body.
Every creature knows that it has to eat to live, but every creature’s knowledge extends only up to the mouth. No creature knows what happens to the food after it leaves the mouth. Actually, the process of digestion starts from the mouth. The saliva secreted in the mouth plays a major role in digestion. The food we eat should have a good aroma which activates the saliva even before the food reaches the mouth. We are also told to masticate the food and rotate it around inside our mouth so as to get the maximum benefit from the saliva. The food which has been masticated well, goes down the alimentary canal without difficulty and reaches the stomach.
Human beings don’t know anything about the processes that take place after the food reaches the stomach. We think we have cooked the food and it gets digested only due to our efforts. How is it digested? Ayurveda mentions five types of winds or “pancha vayus” as they are called, which come into play in performing different types of bodily functions. The samana vayu is the one which is in charge of digestion. It comes into force when the food reaches the stomach.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that there is a fire of digestion in the stomach known as the “Vaishwanara Fire” which is the fire which actually “cooks” the food which has already been cooked by us. This fire has to be very strong if we want a good digestion. This fire is weakened by wrong eating habits and disease and old age.
Let us observe the process of digestion. The food that has been swallowed enters the stomach and is cooked again by our internal fire. It is then separated into portions and sent to the appropriate parts of the organism – like blood, phlegm, muscle, brain etc. The subtlest parts of the food go to make up our mind. Now we see that digestion of food is a very complicated process. We also begin to understand what an important part food plays in our lives, both physically and mentally.
We should also understand that digestion is equally as important as eating. Ayurveda says that undigested food turns into poison. It will putrefy in the stomach and give rise to all types of diseases.
Since food is so important for life, Hinduism gives certain points that we have to follow before we eat. These points are indeed very scientific.
The most important point is to eat only when hungry. Hunger is an indication given by the body that the previous meal has been digested. Stuffing food into a stomach which is struggling to digest the previous meal is a sure way to cause indigestion and ill health.
As an aid to this, we should keep specific times for eating. At those times, the mind naturally inclines towards food. Food eaten when the sun is at its zenith will be most easily digested. So, our main meal should be at lunch time. Last meal should be had before the sun sets. This way, we can get the maximum benefit from the power of the sun.
We should never eat when we are very, very tired. At that time, the vital energy will be low and will be spent on energising the tired parts of the body instead of digesting the meal.
Many points are given to us by Ayurveda to help the digestion process. Our bodies as well as the world outside are made of the five elements – earth, water, fire, air and space (prithvi, apas, agni, vayu and akasha). The food we eat is also made up of these elements. Each of these elements have their own quality corresponding to a sense organ in us which allows us to experience this world made up of the five elements. The quality of akasha is “sound”. The corresponding sense organ in us are the “ears”. The quality of vayu is touch and the sense organ is our skin. The quality of agni is form and the sense organs are the eyes which can perceive form. The quality of apas is taste and the corresponding sense organ is the tongue. The quality of prithvi is smell and corresponding organ is the nose. The food we eat should satisfy all these sense organs by which the elements will be satisfied, thus producing maximum benefit for us through the food.
Starting from prithvi or earth, the food should have a pleasant smell which actually activates the taste buds on the tongue and helps to produce the saliva aiding digestion. Next comes apas or water which is what gives taste to the food and gives us pleasure when it comes into contact with the tongue that tastes it. Next in line is agni or fire which
has the quality of sight. So, the food should look pleasant to the eyes. It should not be mixed up and served in a jumbled fashion. Now comes vayu which has the quality of touch. We always eat with our fingers since the fingers are what gives the quality of touch. Finally, we have akasha or space with its ability to carry sound. The corresponding organs are the ears. A perfect meal in India should have some sort of crunchy food item, like chips or “pappadams” which give a pleasant crispy sound when we masticate it!
To sum up, the food we eat should be served on a nice platter or a leaf and look pleasant and inviting to our eyes. It should have a good aroma which will activate our nostrils and a good taste which will activate the tongue and allow the production of saliva to increase. The meal should have some type of food which will crackle and make a sound when we bite so that the ears are happy. Finally, it should be pleasant to the touch. This is why in India we eat with our fingers, because only then will the sense of touch be activated.
Another important point to be mentioned are the five different “vayus” or “winds” in our body – they are responsible for the various functions that go on automatically within the body of which we are totally unaware. These vayus are called, “prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana”. All these vayus have corresponding “mudras” or placements of the fingers of the hand that activate these vayus. Of these, the aforementioned “samana vayu,” is the one that is responsible for digestion. The mudra for samana vayu is made by holding all five fingers together so that the tips touch. This is another scientific reason why we are asked to eat with our fingers. This alignment of the fingers will activate the samana vayu and help in digestion, apart from activating the quality of touch which in turn activates the element of vayu in the atmosphere. So, you see how Hinduism has turned eating into a fine art which helps the body to digest the food that we are eating to perfection, thus giving maximum benefit to the organism.
As I have mentioned in a previous blog, in Hinduism we do not demarcate life into sacred and secular. Everything is considered as sacred. Since eating is such an important part of our lives, done at least three times a day, we should offer that food to the divinity that is present within our stomach. It is called the “Vaishwanara Fire” without which food will not get digested.
Hence, before we eat, we should wash our hands, sit before the food, fold our hands and repeat some verses which will help us to attune to the divinity within us and which will help to digest the food. Digestion is of such great importance in the maintenance and upkeep of this wonderful machine called the human body. If we trained our children in this art of eating, we would be giving them the priceless gift of good health.
These are the three mantras to be chanted before eating:
“annapoorne, sadapoorne, Shankara pranavallabhe, Jnana vairagya siddhyartam bhiksham dehi cha Parvati.”
Annapoorna is the name of Parvati in her role as the giver of food. So, in this mantra we are begging her to give us material food as well as spiritual food like “jnana and vairagya”, wisdom and dispassion.
“aham vaishwanaro bhutva praninaam dehamashritaha, Pranaapana samaayuktam pachamyannam chaturbhujam”
This verse comes from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. In this, the Lord tells Arjuna that He is the Vaiswanara fire of digestion which is found in the bodies of all creatures. He combines the prana and apana vayus and “cooks” the four different types of food.
“Aum Brahmarpanam, Brahmahavir, Brahmagnau, Brahmanahutam. Brahmaiva tena gantavyam, Brahmakarma samadhina.”
This verse also originates from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. “I offer this food to the Brahman, who is actually the offering, the fire, the utensils and the taste. Thus, may this act of eating lead me to that supreme divinity- the Brahman.”
Hari Aum Tat Sat!