Avoidance of Onion and Garlic
Compiled by BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
Table of Contents
(1) Garlic Is Toxic
(2) Bone of the Cow becomes Garlic & Cow's Meat becomes Onion
(3) Blood of the Demon Saimhikeya becomes Onion & Garlic
(4) Scientific Facts About Garlic
(5) Scientific Facts About Onion
(6) Some Quotes from the Vedic Puranas about Onion and Garlic
(7) Mercy to Other Living Beings
(1) Garlic Is Toxic
The reason garlic is so toxic: the sulphone hydroxyl ion penetrates the blood-brain barrier, just like DMSO, and is a specific poison for higher ife-forms and brain cells. We discovered this, much to our horror, when I (Bob Beck, DSc) was the world’s largest manufacturer of ethical EEG feedback equipment. We’d have people come back from lunch that looked clinically dead on an encephalograph, which we used to calibrate their rogress. “Well, what happened?” “Well, I went to an Italian restaurant and there was some garlic in my salad dressing!” So we had ’em sign things that they wouldn’t touch garlic before classes or we were wasting their time, their money and my time.
I guess some of you who are pilots or have been in flight tests... I was in flight test engineering in Doc Hallan’s group in the 1950’s. The flight surgeon would come around every month and remind all of us: “Don’t you dare touch any garlic 72 hours before you fly one of our airplanes, because it’ll double or triple your reaction time. You’re three times slower than you would be if you’d not had a few drops of garlic.”
Well, we didn’t know why for 20 years later, until I owned the Alpha-Metrics Corporation. We were building biofeedback equipment and found out that garlic usually desynchronizes your brain waves.
So I funded a study at Stanford and, sure enough, they found that it’s a poison. You can rub a clove of garlic on your foot, and you can smell it shortly later on your wrists. So it penetrates the body. This is why DMSO smells a lot like garlic: that sulphone hydroxyl ion penetrates all the barriers, including the corpus callosum in the brain. Any of you who are organic gardeners know that if you don’t want to use DDT, garlic will kill anything in the way of insects.
Now, most people have heard most of their lives that garlic is good for you, and we put those people in the same class of ignorance as the mothers who at the turn of the century would buy morphine sulphate in the drugstore and give it to their babies to put ’em to sleep.
If you have any patients who have low-grade headaches or attention deficit disorder, they can’t quite focus on the computer in the afternoon, just do an experiment – you owe it to yourselves. Take these people off garlic and see how much better they get, very very shortly. And then let them eat a little garlic after about three weeks. They’ll say, “My God, I had no idea that this was the cause of our problems.” And this includes the de-skunked garlics, Kyolic, some of the other products.
Very unpopular, but I’ve got to tell you the truth.
From Nexus Magazine Feb/Mar 2001.
Source: From a lecture by Dr. Robert C. Beck, DSc, given at the Whole Life
Expo, Seattle, WA, USA, in March 1996.
Bob Beck also found in his research on human brain function in the 1980’s that garlic has a detrimental effect on the brain and researching this further he learned that many yoga groups and philosophical teachings caution against the use of garlic and onions as they are known to interfere with meditation practices. Some aware individuals have actually described themselves as experiencing brain fog after having garlic.
(2) Bone of Cow becomes Garlic & meat becomes Onion
The Vedas state that onion and garlic came from the dead body of a murdered cow and therefore they are considered like eating meat. They break the non-vegetarian principle from the strict Vedic shastric point of view. Strict vegetarians don’t eat onion nor garlic. Since meat is tamasic (mode of ignorance), onions and garlic are also tamasic and rajasic food (mode of ignorance and passion). They may have some medicinal value like even wine is used in medicines sometimes but no one will die without eating them. Devotees do not eat onion and garlic also for the reason that they cannot offer the food cooked with onion and garlic to the Lord as per the principles of Bhakti yoga. So if the Lord does not accept it, then the devotees do not get prasadam.
“Once, in Satya Yuga the rishis were performing gomedha and asvamedha sacrefices for the welfare of the whole universe. A cow or a horse would be cut into pieces and placed in the fire. Afterwards the risis would utter mantras and the same animal would come alive in a beautiful young body. One time the risi who was about to perform a gomedha sacrifice, his wife was pregnant. She had a very strong desire to eat and she had heard that if, during pregnancy one has a desire to eat and does not fullfil this, then the baby that will be born will always have saliva coming from its mouth. Very strangely, she desired strongly to eat meat, thus she decided to keep one piece of meat of the cow’s body that was offered in sacrifice. She hid it and was making a plan to eat it very soon. At that time the rishi was finishing the sacrifice and uttered all the mantras for the new young cow to come to life. However when he saw the new cow, he noticed that there was a little part missing from her left side. He went into meditation and realized that his wife had taken away a piece of meat during the sacrifice. Now his wife also understood what happened and quickly threw the meat far away in a field. Due to the effect of the mantras uttered by the rishi there was now life in this piece of meat. Then the bones in that piece of meat became garlic and the meat became onions in that field. Thus these foods are never taken by any Vaishnava devotee because it is not vegetarian. Plus it is in the mode of ignorance."
(3) Blood of demon Saimhikeya becomes Onion & Garlic
Here is another story, from Puranic Encylopedia by Vettam Mani (under CANDRA VI.), (Kamba Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda and Bhagavata, Astama Skandha. Kamba Ramayana is a Tamil text by poet Kambar):
“Solar eclipse according to the Puranas. The Devas and the asuras jointly churned Ksirabdhi wherefrom emerged Dhanvantari with the Amrtakumbha (pot of nectar). But an asura mayavi (magician) called Saimhikeya absconded to Patala with the Amrtakumbha which nobody noticed as everybody was busy with dividing other divine objects. Only after the mayavi’s disappearance was it noticed that the Amrtakumbha was missing. At once Mahavishnu assumed the figure of a beautiful woman, got back the Kumbha and gave it to the devas. The devas began drinking the amrta when, at the instance of some other devas, Saimhikeya, the mayavi, assuming the form of an old Brahmin reached svarga, got a share of the amrta and began to drink it. Surya and Candra (Sun and Moon) who were on guard at the gates divined the secret of the ‘old Brahmin’ and informed Mahavishnu about it. He cut the throat of the pseudo-Brahmin with his Sudarsana Chakra. But, half of the nectar he had drunk stayed above the throat and the other half below it. Therefore, though the head and the trunk were severed they remained alive. These two parts, in course of time, evolved as Rahu and Ketu.
When the throat was cut some blood dropped on on the ground, and became the red onion and the white onion (garlic) respectively. So both onion and garlic originated from the throat and blood of the demons or asuras, thus their consumption brings us closer to tamo guna (mode of ignorance) which characterizes the nature of the demons and thus is detrimental to Bhakti.”
(4) Scientific Facts about Garlic
Garlic and onions are libido enhancers. When you lean towards spiritualism you lean away from the worldly things. Because of its stimulating qualities, garlic was never part of Buddhist tradition in China or Japan, whose practitioners felt it would upset one’s spiritual balance. Garlic was never adopted into traditional Japanese cuisine and was shunned by Zen masters.
The Greek citizenry, especially the aristocracy, firmly rejected garlic and found its smell repugnant. Anyone smelling of garlic was considered vulgar and was prevented from entering the temples. However, in Aristophanes’ play Wives at the Feast of Thesmophores, the women who were cheating on their husbands found garlic the perfect cover-up for a night of indulgence.
Garlic Like the Greeks, the early Roman nobility did not embrace garlic in their own diets but considered the herb worthy only of being fed to the laborers and slaves, to give them strength and vigor. Any man smelling of garlic was considered of low breeding. Horace, Roman lyric poet and satirist (65 to 8 BCE), said of garlic in his Epodes, it is “more poisonous than hemlock.”
Hippocrates did warn that garlic “caused flatulence, a feeling of warmth on the chest and a heavy sensation in the head; it excites anxiety and increases any pain which may be present. When the British colonized India, they noticed that lepers were peeling and consuming garlic non-stop. The British began referring to leprosy as the “peelgarlic disease.” Today Hindus and Brahmins eschew garlic and onions, believing they are too stimulating and interfere with the ability to reach a high spiritual plain in meditation and self-reflection.
Some do not eat garlic or onions because they practice ahimsa, the philosophy of non-violence. Concern that they might be destroying potential life forms or souls, they recognize that a bulb of garlic, with its many individual cloves, could possibly produce many more plants.
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, the character Bottom tells the other actors not to eat garlic or onion, “for we are to utter sweet breath.”
The seventeenth century British view of garlic was solidly negative, with expressions like, “not fit for Ladies’ Palates, nor those who court them,” or that eating garlic “was part of the Punishment for such as had committed the horrid’st Crimes.” When famous poet Percy Shelley visited Italy with his friend Lord Byron, he was shocked and appalled to see his friend eating the garlic that was served at a social gathering.
(5) Scientific Facts about Onion
Onions contain complex sulphur compounds. When you cut into an onion, two chemical reactions take place. First, when a knife cuts through the cells of an onion, its enzymes release a strong odor. Second, the onion releases allicin, a volatile sulfur gas that irritates the eyes and sends one rushing for a tissue. One cannot deny the power of the onion on the olfactory senses. The rich found the odor downright disgusting. From ancient history up to the 19th century, onions were relegated as the food for the poor. The Code of Hammurabi, known as the ancient law of Mesopotamia, shows great concern for the needy by providing them a monthly ration of bread and onions, a ration that comprised the mainstay of the peasant diet. As disagreeable as the onion was to the aristocrats, the peasants devoured them completely raw.
Apparently onions took on dual status in the attitudes in the ancient world. In Egypt they were highly revered by the poor and eaten extensively along with bread and beer. A small sect of Egyptian priests, however, were forbidden to eat them. Onions may have been reviled by those in high positions. In India Brahmins and others are also forbidden to eat onions, even today. We’re all familiar with onion breath. Perhaps that is why the upper classes, such as the Brahmins of India, turned up their noses. In Pompeii those “lowly vendors” who sold onions were rejected from the guild of fruit and vegetable vendors, and had to form their own guild.
The pungent odor and awesome strength of the onion was a mystery to ancient man. An old Turkish legend explains it rather profoundly. It tells that when Satan was thrown out of heaven, garlic sprouted where he first placed his left foot, and onions grew where he placed his right foot.
(6) Some Quotes from the Vedic Puranas about Onion and Garlic
(a) By eating garlic and onion one becomes sinful and as atonement one should perform Chandrayana. Gaurda Purana 1.97.3(68-71)
(b) Onion, Selu, garlic, Goplyusa (milk of a cow before the lapse of ten days from calving), Tanduliya (a grain growing in faecal rubbish) and mushrooms— all these are to be avoided. Skanda Purana : Chapter 40 -- Verse 9
(c) (But) he should avoid stalks of lotuses, safflower, gold or silver, onion, garlic, sour gruel, a thick fluid substance; so also chatraka (a kind of mushroom), vidvaraha, greasy milk of a cow during the first seven days of calving, vilaya (a particular product of milk) and mushrooms. By eating the small red variety of garlic, blossoms of kimsuka, a gourd, so also udumbara, bottle-gourd, a twice-born becomes fallen. Padma Purana Vol. 42 Part 4CHAPTER FIFTYSIX --- verse 19b -24.
(e) I shall now mention those things that should always be avoided in Sraddha. Garlic, onions, globular radish and Karambha (groats or flour mixed with curds), and other articles devoid of smell and with no taste should be avoided in Sraddha.The reason is also mentioned (as follows): Formerly in the fight between Devas and Asuras, Bali was defeated by Suras. From his wounds drops of blood gushed out and from them these articles grew up- Hence they are avoided in the Sraddha rite. Varaha Purana Chapter 16 -- verse 11b - 15
(f) The expiation for having eaten the prohibited food is fasting. One should do the stiuka expiation (Sucandrayana) for having eaten bhustma (a kind of fragrant grass) and garlic. Agni Purana Chapter 173 -- verse 37
(7) Mercy to Other Living Beings
Mercy towards animals by not eating their flesh is a basic symptom of the most basic class of devotees known as kanishtha adhikaris. Below the lowest kanishtha adhikari devotee stage is the level of the four kinds of people who approach the Lord for money, removal of distress, inquiry and knowledge. Sometimes Lord Gauranga Krishna engages such persons who do not show mercy to animals in His service and accepts some services from them. That is the independant desire of the Lord and we cannot question why is He doing it. Just because the Lord is accepting their services does not mean that we have to start imitating those people and become cruel-hearted towards animals as the Lord may be accepting their services only as a very special case and He may not be necessarily pleased with that kind of services. Instead we should follow His instructions in the Gita…”I accept a leaf, flower, fruit and some water which is offered to Me with devotion by a devotee with a pure heart.” Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Jaya Guru Parampara!
Daaso'smi, BRS Swami Gaurangapada.
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