Alharbi 1

Erin Alharbi
Professor Dyer
History 134
19 November 2014

Dietary Restriction of the Hindi Religion

While it may seem odd to many in North America, It is usual that different cultures and
religions have special dietary restriction that must be followed. For example, People of the
Jewish faith follow strict diet known as Kosher. If you were to travel to where people of the
Jewish faith live you would be expected to adhere to this way of life. This is very complex and in
order to keep with other aspects of their religion must be followed. The Hindi religion too has a
strict diet which is enforced in the country where the religion is mostly practiced in India. Like
human beings, food also inherits different dosage of these qualities and it affects its eater's
intelligence.i There are several guidelines which must be followed and just as with Judaism, the
dietary restrictions of the Hindi have a great deal to do with other guidelines of the religion and
culture.
One of the very basic concepts of Hinduism is the cast system. This cast system is known
as the Varna system and it comes from the book of Hinduism known as that Vedas.ii All who are
born into this religion are thought to be born into a class. In reality, when born a baby follows the
class of her or his parents. The Varna system is broken down into 4 classes and they ranked as
follows with Brahman being that having the highest status followed by the Kshatriya, Vaishya,

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and the Sutras. The lowest of all the member of society are known as the untouchables. While
this is not technically considered a caste, those who were not given a title needed to be identified.
The class with the highest status is known as the Brahman. The people of the Brahman are
known as priests and enjoy the finest of everything offered and when it comes to food, there is
no exception. It is absolutely against Hinduism for any ne from the Brahman cast to eat meat,
while in the United States and elsewhere it may be a luxury to enjoy a steak dinner. In India it
would be repulsive to the Brahman, as they believe the act of killing an animal polluting. Thus a
vegetarian would be considered on a higher lever socially than those who eat meat. Food for this
cast is prepared with ghee whereas lower casts would never be allowed to consume it. Another
belief of the Brahman cast is that water must be taken only from running stream or standing
water. It may not be collected from a well or drank from a container even it has come into
contact from a member of the lower cast indirectly. Food that is left on plates of the Brahman
must be disposed of either by throwing it in the trash, allowing members of a lower cast to eat it,
or fed to animals. Finally, those who follow their religion to the letter will not allow even a
member of the lower cast prepare, transport, or handle the food in any manner.
The Kshatriya are the class following the Brahman and could be called the class of
warriors. This cast is very high ranking and are at times throughout the history of Hinduism
interchanged with Brahmans, thus allowing them to eat better foods. While meat is often
consumed by the Kshatriya, though they would never eat beef. Also, unlike the Brahman alcohol
is drunken. The Brahman do not consider the ingredients in alcohol to be polluting, they do
consider the act of actually drinking to be an act of loss of self-control. Those are the two major
differences in diet of the Brahman and the Kshatriya.

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After the Kshatriya cast are the Vaishya. The Vaishya are like the modern middle class,
working in farming and trade and dedicating time to gaining a deeper understanding of their
religion. Like the Brahman caste, the Vaishya enjoyed a diet consisting of fruit, honey, roots,
milk and vegetables. As the Vaishya are caste dedicated to reaching a higher religious level, the
believed that the diet guidelines they followed would help them become more honest and gain
more intelligence.iii Their way of life demanded study, sacrifice, and the giving of alms.iv
Historically the Sutras were a caste of surfs, while today they are permitted to work jobs
of all kinds and even own their own businesses. Their diet consisted of meat, sometimes even
beef, some dairy, and whatever other food they can obtain.
The Harijans or Dalit, also known as the untouchables, are comparable to those living on
the street. Unfortunately they have such a stigma of being dirty and that causes even the children
of higher castes have no regard for them and refuse to eat food prepared by them. As for the diet,
the untouchable will eat anything that available to them provided is not beef.
The religion of Hinduism is so complicated due to the caste system thus making it
difficult to interpret the multiple guidelines followed by the 4 castes. It is worth mentioning that
despite there being only 4 major castes, there thousands of sects which fall under those castes.
Different regions often have different guidelines adding to the difficulty. While it seems like
thing of the past, the caste system and the Hinduism diet are intertwined and it would be
impossible to have one without the other.

Naumann Joe, http://www.umsl.edu/~naumannj/

Cohen Yuhude, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/162787/ Hinduism dietary-law/66416/
iii
emilieanne http://www.glogster.com/emilieanne/vaishya-caste/g-6ltcrlkncufi1qei85al4a0
iv
emilieanne http://www.glogster.com/emilieanne/vaishya-caste/g-6ltcrlkncufi1qei85al4a0
ii

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Works Cited
Naumann, Joe. "The Caste System of India." New Index. University of Missouri Saint Lewis.
Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.umsl.edu/~naumannj/>.
Stefon, Matt. "Hinduism." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Sept.
2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/162787/dietary-law/66416/Hinduism>.
"Vaishya Caste | Publish with Glogster!" Glogster. Glogster. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.glogster.com/emilieanne/vaishya-caste/g-6ltcrlkncufi1qei85al4a0>.