BVT 7 :: The Meat-eating issue
This is a revision of an earlier article (Bhaktivinoda's Meat-eating, the complete story). It was adjusted to make it suitable for the introduction to Sva-likhita-jīvanī.
From the Autobiography, we know that the Thakur ate meat right up until the time he took diksha at the age of 42. The fact that he makes an issue of it, often talking about his difficulty in giving up his attachment to such a diet, serves to highlight the significance of his taking initiation and the grace of his guru. It stands as an important testimonial that he himself felt that it took the mercy that came to him through diksha to stop that bad habit.
Without stating it explicitly, it is obvious that in Bhaktivinoda's childhood the family ate meat and fish. After all, they were Shaktas. Ula Birnagar was heavily populated with Shaktas and there were several temples to Kali and Durga in the family estate and around the village, which after all was named after a popular shrine to Ula, a form of the goddess. The festivals of Durga Puja and especially Kali Puja, which the Thakur describes with some fondness even though they featured goat and buffalo sacrifices galore. One has to assume his family participated in the prevailing dietary customs. [10]
A first negative incident related to the consumption of meat takes place after the seven-year old Kedar and his nine-year old brother Kali Prasanna had been sent to Krishnanagar to a newly established college to study. The diwan from the Ula estate came and cooked goat mutton for the evening meal. That night Kali Prasanna came down with cholera. The doctor and other caretakers had Kali sent straight away to the house in Ula by palanquin. Kedar accompanied his brother for the several hours of the journey from Krishnanagar, watching him go through the agony of the disease and finally succumb shortly after arrival. In his memory, this trauma was always associated with the consumption of meat.[29-30]
Another significant event took place a few years later, when Kedar was 14 and already studying in Calcutta. He became ill with an obstinate digestive and skin disorder that resulted in his return to Ula Birnagar in the hope that the country environment would be salutary. When the illness proved particularly tenacious, Kedar's mother desperately arranged for a more magical type of cure, inviting a holy man or fakir from the Kartabhaja sect, one of the heterodox Vaishnava groups, to conduct an exorcism rite. The Thakur tells the story of how this was done in some detail, even including a summary of the Guru's teachings, in which vegetarianism played a central role. The dietary restriction that the "Gurudeb" imposed on him was: no meat, fish or deva/devi prasad.
"[The Fakir] asked that my mother cook only vegetarian food for me. 'You must not eat any other god's prasad, nor believe in any other god [than the Satya Purusha].'" [61]
Other than the dietary restriction, Kedar's Kartabhaja Gurudeb gave him mantras and taught him also how to effect the kinds of cures that he himself had experienced. However, when Kedar returned to his life in Calcutta, he broke those rules. So when he had a recurrence of the problem, he was too ashamed to go back to him.
"During the rainy season [in Calcutta that same year] I again got blood dysentery. This time also I had it in my mind to go to the fakirs in Ula to get cured, but I had been at fault in breaking the rules and so I was ashamed to go to them. I had not only been eating fish and meat, but moreover taking prasad from other gods, so the power of the mantra had diminished. As a result I no longer made any effort at chanting my mantra as it would be just like the bathing of an elephant." [66]
Of the other supernatural marvels told in this account is the Kartabhaja Guru's prediction that the village would be decimated in an epidemic very shortly. The outbreak of the plague indeed emptied Ula only five years later. Bhaktivinoda repeatedly refers to him as "Gurudeb" even though the man belonged to the outcaste leather worker community (muci).
Of the other supernatural marvels told in this account is the Kartabhaja Guru's prediction that the village would be decimated in an epidemic very shortly. The outbreak of the plague did indeed empty Ula only five years later. Bhaktivinoda repeatedly refers to him as "Gurudeb" even though the man belonged to the outcaste leather worker community (muci).
This story is interesting for many reasons, not the least being that a wealthy zamindar's son who was studying in Calcutta with the youth of elite society, living in an exclusive neighborhood with his uncle Kashi Prasad Ghosh, a famous literary man, had such innocent faith in someone from the lowest category of society. But in terms of our present subject, we can see that the entire incident: the miraculous nature of the cure and the mystic powers of the Kartabhaja Guru, as well as all he had been taught by him, made a deep and lasting impression on Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Of all those things, the spiritual and moral force of a meat-free diet remained with him for the rest of his days.
Even though the Kartabhajas are a heterodox subsect of Chaitanya Vaishnavism, which the Thakur later repudiated, he credits them with helping him develop a faith in the fundamental moral strength of the Chaitanya way: "…when I was ill, the Kartabhajas made me healthy, and that also showed me the strength of the Vaishnava religion." [105]
In the period following 1861, when Kedarnath was living in Midnapore as a teacher under Rajnarayan Basu, a well-known leader of the Brahmo Samaj, he was differentiating himself more and more from them. In his budding appreciation for Vaishnavism -- which he still did not know very well -- the meat eating issue played a role significant enough to be mentioned. He remembers his state of mind at the time:
"[I recalled how] one day [in Ula], my maternal grandfather's servants were chastising a group of Jati Vaishnavas [hereditary Vaishnavas] for the offense of poaching fish from our pond. They said that for it was very lowly behavior for one to kill any living entity after having become a Vaishnava. I overheard this conversation and understood that it was not right for Vaishnavas to kill any living being. Shaktas sacrifice to the Goddess, kill the animal and eat its meat; they kill fish and eat them. I came to the conclusion that the Vaishnavas have the wiser position in this world." [105-106]
This makes it quite clear that Bhaktivinoda Thakur considered non-violence and vegetarianism to be among the attractive and superior moral features of the Vaishnava religion. Then in 1866, while in Chhapra, Bhaktivinoda Thakur became quite ill with a bleeding ulcer, which he blamed on his poor dietary habits.
"At that time I used to eat a lot of fish and meat. I had known that killing animals was bad for a long time, but I still had a strong desire to enjoy such food." [127]
The painful condition lasted for over a year and was finally cured with a recipe for a medicine that he received from Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar himself and which he even shares with the world in the Autobiography.
Over the next few years, Bhaktivinoda became more familiar with Vaishnava philosophy and practice in Dinajpore (1867-1869), Puri (1870-1875) and Narail (1878-1880). As we saw above, the Thakur was associating with the renounced Vaishnava babajis and speaking on the Bhāgavatam in Puri. He had even begun writing in Sanskrit. Despite this great progress, he still had not given up meat and fish. His association with Bipin Bihari Goswami began while he was still in Puri, and continued on for the next five years until he was stationed in Narail. Then in a very brief comment, the Thakur says,
When Gurudeva came and performed the initiation rituals, it made me very cheerful. From that very day the sinful desire for eating meat was removed from my heart and I began to feel some compassion towards all living beings. [175]My point in compiling these excerpts here is to show that this was a significant issue for Bhaktivinoda Thakur and that his faith in his guru's mercy was enhanced by what seemed like a miraculous transformation. He had previously continued eating meat and fish even though he had known it to be spiritually detrimental and morally wrong. So, in effect, this event is a climactic moment in his life: despite all his knowledge and learning, it took the mercy of his spiritual master to get him free of this anartha.
In a country like Bengal, where people are generally extremely attached to fish and to a somewhat lesser extent mutton, to the point that even many Vaishnavas consider the "fruits of the water" to be part of a vegetarian diet, perhaps Bhaktivinoda Thakur felt that telling his story would inspire others to recognize that the standard of a pure sāttvika regime is a non-negotiable element in the yogic discipline of bhakti.
Some people wish to hide this part of the Thakur's Autobiography, which they find embarrassing and inappropriate for contemplation by those with weak faith. I do not agree with this position.
To excise the account of this transformation in Bhaktivinoda Thakur would be to emasculate the story of his spiritual development. It would remove one of the principal themes of the book itself, which centers on the Thakur's struggle with his liking for meat, the health problems that he attributed to his carnivorous diet, and finally the importance he believed this had for his spiritual progress and the salutary effects that taking initiation from his guru had on overcoming the obstacle.
The first words the Thakur writes are, "Lalita Prasad, you asked me to tell you my life story. I am writing whatever I am able to remember in this letter for you. Please see that you do not misuse it in any way." [1] Lalita Prasad Thakur reiterated the warning at the beginning of the first published edition,
"My honorable father ordered me to see that this letter written by him not be misused ; for that reason I cannot give it into the hands of the general public. Only those who are truly qualified have the right to read this letter. If anyone reads this work with the intention of supporting negative attitudes, then he will have to bear the consequences for that."
But the autobiography is by no means a "tell-all" book. It was written as a letter to his son who was only a boy of 15. Lalita Prasad was born and brought up in a household where there was a śuddha sāttvika diet of Krishna prasad. He had feelings of hero-worship for his father that he never gave up. Bhaktivinoda Thakur taught the four pillars of a holy life, which include the rejection of violence to animals for food. Why then would he endanger that mood in his son by confessing to something that would have been considered reprehensible in the society of pure Vaishnavas?
The eating of meat and fish is something so generalized in Bengali society that the stigma would likely have been minimal in ordinary bhadraloka circles, though many there would appreciate the sacrifice involved in adopting such a diet and would take it as a praiseworthy part of the saintly life. On the other hand, the Thakur would have been wary of faultfinders in the Vaishnava community, who would misuse such information to attack him in ad hominem attacks. He knew there were people who would hold the character flaw of meat and fish eating over his head to diminish his authority and undermine his legitimacy as a speaker of Vaishnava dharma or a bona-fide devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. However, Vaishnava texts hold that the previous character of a convert cannot be held to account because one cannot commit sins enough to challenge the power of the Holy Name to absolve them:
tāvat kartuṁ na śaknoti pātakaṁ pātakī naraḥ
Lord Hari's name is invested with infinite potency to relieve us of our sins. Even the most sinful person is incapable of committing more sins than the Holy Name can eradicate. (Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa)On the whole, it is this truth that Bhaktivinoda wished to present. In his "modern" approach to spiritual life, he wished to give a realistic picture of his own spiritual development, and also to warn against discrimination based on dietary considerations alone, a fundamental cause of caste consciousness and discrimination, which all Vaishnavas consider undesirable.
Some worry that one should not dwell on a Vaishnava's sinful life prior to his conversion and purification, and that is indeed true. Nevertheless, it is not outside the bounds of discussion altogether, since we do mention that Jagai and Madhai and even Rupa and Sanatan were tainted in their lives prior to taking shelter of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In this case, Bhaktivinoda Thakur himself has humbly and honestly raised the subject, so we need to look at how it is an core theme underlying the work, namely his spiritual development. If Bhaktivinoda chose to speak of this, it is – in my view – above all to glorify the mercy of the Holy Name and the Spiritual Master, which is evident from his own statements in the book.
To conclude, we may cite a song written by the Thakur in which he perhaps contritely alludes to this struggle:
nāhika puṇyera leśa
parere udbega, diẏāchi ye kata
diẏāchi jībere kleśa
I am an impious sinner and have caused others great anxiety and trouble. I have never hesitated to perform sinful act for my own enjoyment. Devoid of all compassion, concerned only with my own selfish interests, I am remorseful seeing others happy. I am a perpetual liar, and the misery of others is a source of great pleasure for me. (Śaraṇāgati 5.1)
Other articles in the introduction
BVT 1-2 : Invocation and Introduction to the Autobiography
BVT 3 :: Modern Scholarship on Bhaktivinoda Thakur
BVT 4 :: Bhaktivinoda Thaku and his thirst for knowledge.
BVT 5 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Christianity
BVT 6 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Jagannath Puri
BVT 7 :: Bhaktivinoda and the Meat-eating issue
BVT 8 :: Initiation from Bipin Bihari Goswami
BVT 9 :: Bipin Bihari Goswami in the Thakur's Writings
BVT 10 :: Lalita Prasad Thakur
BVT 11 :: Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Sampradaya
BVT 12 :: The Authenticity of the Autobiography
Other articles inspired by the Autobiography:
A Bengali Zamindar's education in the 1840's
Bipin Bihari's testimonial to his best disciple Kedarnath Datta
Longfellow and Bhaktivinoda Thakur's poems
And also,
Hari-nama-cintamani related posts
Siddhi-lalasa
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