Manu Smriti has strictures on food too. लशुनं गृञ्जनं चैव पलाण्डुं कवकानि च (5.5). These are to be avoided by brahmanas. लशुन is garlic, गृञ्जन is also a kind of onion or garlic, sometimes translated as leek (it also means turnip, but that’s probably not what is being prohibited). पलाण्डु is onion and कवक is a mushroom. I don’t mean to suggest that everything we follow comes from Manu Smriti. But if you meet brahmanas who do not eat onions, garlic or mushrooms, you know that there is a stricture against these in Manu Smriti. Except buffaloes, one (one who is a brahmana) should not drink the milk of any wild animal (5.9). क्रव्यादाशकुनान्सर्वान्तथा ग्रामनिवासिनः (5.11). शकुन is a bird and the adjective क्रव्याद qualifies this as a carnivorous or predatory bird. So all such birds should not be eaten, nor should one eat birds that dwell in villages. Several birds are prohibited by name. Among these are टिट्टिभ (water-hen),कलविङ्क (sparrow), प्लव (some kind of aquatic bird, I can’t pin it down more than that), हंस (goose/swan), चक्र (the ruddy-goose/brahmani duck), कुक्कुट (fowl) that live in villages (wild ones are allowed), सारस (crane/stork/heron), रज्जुवाल(can’t pin down this bird), दात्यूह (cuckoo/gallinule), शुक(parrot), सारिक (salika/mynah), कोयष्टि (lapwing), बक(heron/crane), बलाका (crane), काकोल (raven) and खञ्जरीटक(wagtail). Other birds are also prohibited, though by their behaviour, rather than by their name. For example, you shouldn’t eat birds that feed by striking with their beaks, nor should you eat ones that are web-footed. You shouldn’t eat ones that scratch with their talons/feet. You shouldn’t eat ones that dive and feed on fish. You shouldn’t eat ones that live on dried meat or flesh from slaughter-houses.
Even if you have not read Manu Smriti, you may have known about these injunctions in a vague kind of way. Let me tell you something that you may not have known. विड्वराहांश्च मत्स्यानेव च सर्वश: (5.14). The first part of this prohibits the eating of a tame or village-pig, wild ones are fine. But you must not eat any kind of fish either. Did you know this? Only a few kinds of fish are permitted. These are पाठीन (a kind of catfish), रोहित (rohu), राजीव (not sure what kind of fish this is), सिंहतुण्ड (not sure what kind of fish this is again) and सशल्क (ditto). I know that among brahmanas who eat fish, there is a preference for rohu. But until reading Manu Smriti, I had not known that there was a prohibition on fish in general. You are allowed to eat the meat of porcupines, hedgehogs, lizards, rhinos (I had not known this either), tortoises and rabbits/hares. You are also allowed to eat the flesh of animals that have 5-claws/nails and those that have teeth on one jaw (with the exception of camels, which are taboo) (5.18). You should especially read 5.21, which I will not quote, since the Sanskrit is unimportant here. Despite your efforts, you might end up eating forbidden food. If you are a brahmana, 5.21 tells us that once a year, you must perform penance. That’s because you may unintentionally eat prohibited food. However, if you intentionally eat prohibited food, special kinds of penances are recommended. 5.22 and 5.23 also deserve mention. As far as I can make out, 5.22 states that the permitted birds and animals must be killed by the brahmanas themselves, because that’s what the sage Agastya did in ancient times. 5.23 says that in ancient times, the sacrificial cakes (पुरोडाश)at the sacrifices of brahmanas and kshatriyas were made out of the flesh of permitted birds and animals. 5.30 is also interesting. According to this, if you (a brahmana) eat those who are meant to be your food every day, there is no sin. After all, the creator created those who are eaters and those who are meant to be eaten. However, meat must be eaten in accordance with the prescribed rules. There may be a person who kills animals for the sake of wealth. After death, his sins will be smaller than the sins of someone who eats meat unnecessarily or in vain (the word used is वृथा) (5.34). Note 5.35 too. If a man has been properly engaged, but refuses to eat meat, once he dies, that man will be reborn as an animal for twenty-one lives.
After saying all this, there is a completely different prescription in 5.48. This says that meat cannot be obtained without injuring living beings. Therefore, if you wish to ascend to heaven, you must give up the eating of flesh. This illustrates the problem with invoking something like Manu Smriti. Sometimes, there are contrary prescriptions, probably because Manu Smriti codified different kinds of practices that were prevalent and these weren’t necessarily consistent. That’s the reason it is misleading to selectively quote from Manu Smriti, something that a lot of people seem to do. To return to these shlokas, a slayer of animals is evil. A slayer of animals isn’t simply one who kills the animal. Other than the one who actually kills the animals, someone who allows this, someone who cuts the carcass, someone who buys the meat, cooks it and eats it is also regarded as the slayer of an animal (5.51). Give me a word for meat or flesh in Sanskrit. You are likely to say मांस. 5.55 gives us an interesting take on what this word means, it means मां सः. That is, if I eat some being’s flesh in this life, in the next life, that being will eat my flesh.
This is enough from chapter 5. I will turn to chapter 6 in the next tidbit.
