Did Lord Rama eat meat? A very common question from many people - Did Lord Rama eat meat? There was one such question on the jetusa yahoogroups to Swamiji. the question read as follows:

"Jai Srimannarayana, Dear swamiji, there are a few questions which are haunting me from the past few months. I am currently living in Australia where I have negligible help in the matter of Hinduism. I was asked some questions by few of my friends which probably have made my existance very miserable as a Hindu. I was ashamed that I could not explain anything to him about what is Hinduism. One of the major questions which he asked was if Lord Rama can eat beef meat then why don't you eat meat as Rama is known as one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. On this I said very blandly that Rama does not eat meat. After hearing what I said, he laughed at me and showed me few phrases from the Ramayana which state that Rama, before going to exile told his mother that he would miss his favourite food which is beef meat. Now my doubt is why would Rama eat beef meat when cow is known as a sacred animal. It forms an illusion in my mind and raises many doubts about our Hindu culture and beliefs, I am saying because I daily recite Vishnu Sahasranama without actually knowing why am I doing that. I have also decided to visit the JET school in Badrinath when I come back to India to know more about our culture and beliefs. Waiting for a reply
Vishnu Bhakta, S.Aravind Bhave Australia"

Swamiji very eloquently replied as follows:

"Priya sriman Vishnu Bhaktaji!

JAI SRIMANNARAYANA!

WE ARE HAPPY FOR YOUR CURIOUSITY IN KNOWING SOMETHING ABOUT OUR CULTURE AND HERITAGE. SRI RAMA DID EAT MEAT. THAT IS MENTIONED IN SRIRAMAYANAM ON SEVERAL OCCASSIONS. THEN WHAT? IF RAMA ATE, SHOULD YOU ALSO HAVE TO EAT IT? RAMA DID MANY A THING. ARE THESE PEOPLE, WHO ARE POSING DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, DOING ALL OF THEM? THEY WANT TO CHOOSE CONVENIENTLY A FEW THINGS, WHERE THEY CAN GRATIFY THEIR SENSES. OR SATISFY THEIR WEAKNESSES.

DURING THOSE TIMES IT WAS NOT PROHIBITED. EVEN SAGE APASTHAMBA ALSO MENTIONED IN HIS SUTRAS - THERE ARE CERTAIN MEATS RECOMMENDED FOR CERTAIN OCCASSIONS. FOR THOSE DAYS, THEY WERE IN PRACTICE AND ACCEPTED BY THE SOCIETY.

BUT NOT NOW!!!!.

* WHEN OUR ACHARYAS OBSERVED SOME PROBLEMS WITH CERTAIN PRACTICES, THEY PROHIBITED SOME A:CHA:RAS, EVEN THOUGH THOSE A:CHA:RAS WERE RECOMMENDED BY SA:STHRAS.
* WHATEVER THE SA:STRAS CONDEMNED, WERE ALSO GIVEN UP IN ALL AGES.
* EVEN AMONG THE RECOMMENDED PRACTICES ALSO CERTAIN THINGS WERE NOT TAKEN UP FOR USAGE, WHICH MAY SHOW NEGITIVE IMPACT ON THESE WEAK MINDS & HEARTS OF KALIYUGA. ACHARYAS MUST BE KNOWING ABOUT THEM.
* EATING MEAT, DRINKING MADHUVU, PERFORMING YAGAS WITH ANIMAL SACRIFICE WERE A FEW OF SUCH KIND.
* WE BETTER BE BY OURSELVES, AND NEED NOT PLAY RAMA. TRY TO LEARN GOOD THINGS FROM THEM
* AS A COMMON MAN, ONE MAY EAT ANYTHING THAT ONE'S RELATIVES AND PARENTS HAVE TAUGHT THEM.
* BUT, WHEN ONE CHOOSES TO BE A SIMPLE PRACTITIONER OF SOME SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, THEN, THAT PERSON SHOULD STRICTLY FOLLOW THE ACHARYA OF THAT PARTICULAR SCHOOL.
* NO QUESTIONS ARE ASKED, AS LONG AS THAT ACHARYA RECOMMENDS EVEN UNPROHIBITED ACTIVITES.
* ONE NEED NOT QUESTION THAT ACHARYA, TO GET THE SANCTION OF ONE'S OWN INTENTIONS.
* FOR EXAMPLE: IF YOU WANT TO EAT MEAT, SIMPLY GO AND EAT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AND AS FREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE. BUT, KNOWINGLY, DO NOT ARGUE WITH ACHARYA & ALSO DO NOT TRY TO JUSTIFY SAYING THAT EATING MEAT IS SA:STRIC BY SHOWING THE EXAMPLES OF RAMA, KRISHNA OR SOMEONE.
* AND ALSO, DO NOT FORCE ACHARYA TO ACCEPT WHATEVER YOU DID, AS RIGHT.
* THAT MAY BE MENTIONED IN SA:STRAS AND MANY PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE DONE IT, SO ON & SO FORTH. STILL, IF THAT ACHARYA DOES NOT WANT IT AND DID NOT RECOMMEND IN HIS SAMPRADAYA, DUTY OF A FOLLOWER IS TO AVOID IT SIMPLY, WITHOUT ANY ARGUMENT.
* OTHERWISE, BETTER NOT TO POSE AS A FOLLOWER AND CHEAT.
* EVERYBODY HAS ONE'S OWN WAY OF PRACTISING THINGS. FOLLOWERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT. ONE NEED NOT COMPARE & COMMENT THAT PRACTICE OF ONE ACHARYA WITH THE PRACTICE OF ANOTHER ACHARYA OF ANOTHER SAMPRADAYAM OR EVEN OF THE SAME SAMPRADAYAM TOO. IT IS ALWAYS BAD.

To put in short, one need not exhibit so-called enlightenment and extensive knowledge, in posing clever questions thus wasting the time and energy of many. There is a lot of useful work to be done.

==Chinnajeeyar="  ¶ 9:50 PM