Brahmin
is a caste in Hinduism, where majority of the people are priests and scholors.
Brahmins are those people who are known to preach their culture. They are bound
to their traditions and always are close to god by performing their daily set
of pujas and vratas.
Brahmins
can be further divided into Vaishnavas who follow Lord Vishnu, Sri Vaishnavas
who are the devotees of Lord Lakshmi Narayana anddo not pray Lord Shiva and
Smarthas who preach Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Apart from the strict culture
and traditional beliefs, Brahmins follow a certain food style too. They do not
consume any spicy foods. Most importantly, brahmins do not consume onions and
garlic.
In
the ancient times, people never ate onions and garlic. These two vegetables
were never brought to any Brahmin's house. Though, off late, this concept has
been changed. However, many people in the Smartha, Iyengar and Madhava families
do not consume onions or garlic even to this day. As a part of naivedya that is
served for the lord, the food items are never prepared using onions and garlic
Based on Ayurveda
Based
on Ayurveda, the foods that we eat can be divided into three groups. Satva,
rajas, and tamas.
Satvic
foods provide mental peace, it keeps our mind calm, helps us speak the truth
and always keeps our mind under control. This is the main reason as to why
Brahmins preferred eating only Satvic foods. Foods that come under the category
of rajas can make you want and desire worldy pleasures. Onions are known to
increase your sexual feelings. This is one of the main reasons as to why onions
were restricted in the earlier times. The qualities that we get when we eat
foods in the Tamas category, such as onions and garlic, is that our mind
becomes evil, we tend to be more angry and our mind can never be got under
control.
This
is why people always avoided eating onions and garlic. Though some people
believe that garlic helps to cure certain health disorders; however, Brahmins
found alternative ayurvedic medicines to cure the same diseases. Since human
beings have been known to be evolved from monkeys, these rules and beliefs were
applied to tame our ever-diverting minds. Rather, we humans do not have a
control over our minds. So, by avoiding foods like onions, garlic, meat, etc,
Brahmins believe that it is a step towards attaining peace and fulfilling the
purpose of their life. Hence, they refrain from doing any such activities that
might divert their attention away from God.
