Talk:Preparing to Win in Sports: Healthy Mind and Body:Guidelines regarding Food
By Vishal Agarwal and The Hindu Society of Minnesota
Numerous sportsmen have lost competitions because of not eating properly just before their tournament. Non-dhārmika traditions do not give much thought to the effect of purity of food [1] on the purity of one’s mind. But Hindu dharm emphasizes that food must be pure:
When there is purity of food, the mind becomes pure; when the mind becomes pure, it remembers the Lord; and by remembrance of the Lord, liberation (mokṣa) is attained. —Sāmaveda, Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.26.2
In the Anugītā, Kṛṣṇa gives illustrative examples of the effect of an uncontrolled diet on our body and mind:
Even though understanding what is appropriate to his intellect, strength (health), and routine, he eats food at the wrong times and eats what does not suit his constitution because he does not have control over himself. —Anugītā 2.8 He eats extremely harmful foodstuffs. Sometimes he overeats a lot, and at other times, he does not eat food at all. —Anugītā 2.9
Sometimes he eats contaminated food, and at other times he eats food items that are opposed to each other simultaneously. Sometimes he eats food that is difficult to digest, while at other times he eats an excessive quantity of food. At times, he eats again even before his body has digested the previous meal. —Anugītā 2.10
He eats syrupy (rich) food, sleeps during daytime and by eating the next meal before his body has digested the previous one, he irritates the three bodily humors.[2] —Anugītā 2.12 And once these three bodily humors are irritated, he invites severe diseases that torture him till he dies. To free himself from these, he tries methods that are opposed by the scriptures — like committing suicide by hanging or immolating oneself. —Anugītā 2.13
Hindu dharm has a complete system of medicine called Āyurveda, that is practiced to some extent even today. According to the Hindu tradition, Agniveśa taught the principles of Hindu medicine to his several students who then wrote their own textbooks. One of these students was Caraka, whose work called the Caraka Saṃhitā is still studied by thousands of scholars who practice Āyurveda.
Amazingly, in his book on medicine, Caraka declares that many diseases are caused by creatures who are very minute in size and can therefore be seen only with the help of a yantra (instrument), just like we can see disease-causing bacteria and viruses today only with the help of a microscope.
Caraka also described how hospitals should be constructed properly for speedy and comfortable treatment and recovery of patients. For example, he recommended that rooms should be cooled during summer months and heated during the winter.
He also taught that it is very important to live a healthy lifestyle, eat a balanced diet, exercise properly and live in clean surroundings. Most people think about medicine only when they are sick. But Caraka, much like modern physicians, believed that a healthy lifestyle will greatly decrease our chances of falling sick. The story below in this regard is very interesting.
'Story: The Parrot Who Asked "Koraruk?"'
Caraka Muni compiled a marvelous book on Āyurveda (Hindu medicine) in which he described hundreds of diseases, their cures, healthy lifestyles etc. Sometime after he released his book, he decided to find out if people were becoming healthier and living longer due to his efforts. Therefore, he took the form of a speaking parrot.
The parrot alighted on the branch of a tree at the center of a marketplace where a great conference of physicians was going on. The parrot started shouting, “koraruk?” (meaning “Who does not become sick?” in Sanskrit). All the physicians heard the parrot’s cry. All tried to answer the question to demonstrate who was more knowledgeable in Āyurveda.
The first physician replied, “Only he who eats the nutritious supplement called ‘Cyavanaprāśa’ stays healthy.” The second physician retorted, “No, you are wrong! It is the ash of burnt metals mixed with the blueberry that keeps the stomach healthy.” The third physician said, “Of course not! One must eat the Candraprabhāvati to fight sickness.” And the fourth disagreed with all the three and recommended the Aśvagandhā mixture.
Their answers really disappointed Caraka. He flew away, thinking, “I did not compile my book on Āyurveda to make every human being’s stomach a warehouse of medicines!”
He went around and asked the same question — “koraruk?” — to every physician he had met, but got similar disappointing replies.
Finally, he sat on a tree below which was sitting a famous physician Vāgbhaṭa, who had just taken his bath. “Koraruk?” asked the parrot. Vāgbhaṭa was really amused to see a parrot ask a question that is so important to physicians. And he replied:
hitabhuk (he who eats only those foods which benefit the body), mitabhuk (he who eats only controlled amounts of food), ṛtabhuk (he who is not a slave to taste, and does not fill his stomach with junk food).
When the parrot heard the reply “hitabhuk, mitabhuk, ṛtabhuk,” he was very pleased. Caraka Muni now assumed his normal human form and appeared in front of Vāgbhaṭa. “You alone have understood the secret of medicine, dear Vāgbhaṭa.”
Moral of the Story: Instead of stuffing our body with medicines and supplements, we should rather eat a healthy and a controlled diet. We should eat to live, not live to eat!
Class Exercise: In the table below, can you match the junk food in the left column to the diseases or health problems that it can cause in the right column? Ask an elder what the words in the right column mean. Some junk foods can lead to more than one type of health problem.
| Junk Food | Health Problem |
|---|---|
| Candy | Heartburn |
| Very spicy food | Obesity |
| Lots of deep fried food (e.g. French fries) | Tooth cavities |
| Soda (aerated canned drinks) | Heart problems |
| Wine | Cancer |
| Cigarettes | High blood pressure/headache |
References[edit]
- ↑ In the Hindu tradition, food can be considered impure due the following four causes: 1. Prohibited by the scriptures, e.g., beef. 2. Due to contamination with an unclean substance. E.g., food in which hair have fallen. 3. Food that has been polluted due to proximity with an unclean object (not actual contact) like that which has been kept in the same room as a corpse, or which is stale. 4. Food that is procured using ill-begotten wealth.
- ↑ According to Āyurveda (Hindu medicine), everyone’s constitution comprises of three ‘humors’ (kapha, vāta and pitta) and an imbalance of these leads to the various diseases.