It is believed that you are what you eat.  In Jain philosophy and religion, utmost importance has been given to the virtue of Ahimsa, the doctrine of nonviolence.  It is stated that one should lead a life that is devoid of ALL violence, and should not be done in any form through mind, body or speech.

Jains strongly believe that their daily lifestyle should be devoid of any harm of any living being.  As such the food that needs to be taken to survive this life, should be filled with gratitude and compassion.  Only living form that is allowed to be consumed for survival is plant and vegetation life, one sense organisms in the world of flora. Animal life bacteria which can be as minute as of one cell but since it has 2 to 4 sense organs, it has to be avoided totally.

Even within the vegetation world, there are strict rules of what, how and when food can be consumed.  

WHAT – Any root vegetation that grows under the ground – like potato, onion, carrot, radish, garlic etc. are prohibited, as every cell of these root vegetables has infinite plant life beings. Since the number of beings is infinite, Jains do not eat root vegetables.

HOW – The food is cooked on a daily basis 48 minutes after sunrise.  And should be consumed before sunset to prevent minute bacterias to fall into food which come in night as the sun goes down. Also food is to be cooked with only filtered water. And water is filtered using thick cloth and then the bacterias collected in the cloth are again mixed with the unfiltered water so that they can survive longer. Milk is allowed – but has to be heated within 48 minutes of taking it from cow’s body.  The milking of cow has strict rules of compassion and love and is only to be used after the calf has had his share in the morning.

WHEN – Food is primarily to be consumed 48 minutes after sunrise and 48 minutes before sunset.  Jains believe that there are infinite microorganisms in air before sunrise and after sunset which gets mixed in the food if consumed without sunlight.

Jain Food is full of compassion to not only the visible living animals but also to micro-organisms.  The concept is to have it fresh, in limited quantities and enough for survival – but not overeat and over indulge.

Being a member of a Jain household, Gaurav strongly believes in Jain food and tries various recipes to be cooked in Jain way.  At the end of the program, we are going to give you a taste of Jain food in the form of boxed dinner.