Bhakṣya-Abhakṣya Vicāra

Bhakṣya means what may be eaten, and abhakṣya means what must not be eaten. Vicāra means careful thought. So bhakṣya-abhakṣya vicāra is the teaching on right and wrong food. In the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa (Chapter 27) there is a detailed teaching on this subject.

It covers vessels that must not be used for certain foods, milk in copper vessels, the ekādaśī fast (the fast on the 11th day of each lunar fortnight), food rules tied to particular tithis (lunar days), rules on meat for gṛhasthas (householders), and some vegetables forbidden in certain seasons. The chapter treats food-dharma as a natural part of how a devout person lives. A later part of the same Purāṇa, the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, adds more rules and the results of breaking them.

Key Rules on Forbidden Combinations

Chapter 27 sets out several important food rules.

Milk in a copper vessel: Drinking milk from a copper vessel is equal to drinking cow’s blood. This is one of the most serious food faults. From the point of view of dharma, copper and milk simply do not go together.

Salt and milk: Adding salt to milk is equal to eating gomāṃsa (beef). This too is a very serious fault.

Ekādaśī

The ekādaśī fast is described as required for everyone, including Śaivas and Śāktas. That is, even those whose main devotion is to Śiva or to Śakti are not excused. Those who truly cannot fast fully may take only fruit and water. No grain of any kind should be eaten on ekādaśī.

Days of Double Fault

On three days, any breaking of the fast counts twice as heavily:

1. Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī: the eighth day of the dark fortnight, Janmāṣṭamī, the appearance day of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
2. Rāma Navamī: the ninth day of the bright fortnight in Caitra, the appearance day of Śrī Rāma.
3. Śivarātri: the great night-fast of Śiva.

Rules for Particular Tithis

Some tithis carry their own restrictions. Part of the list in the text:

• Pratipadā (the first day): gumḍa, a sweet dish, is forbidden.
• Dvitīyā (the second day): bṛhatī-patra bhojana, eating from or with a certain leaf, is forbidden.
• Other tithis have their own particular restrictions.

Rules on Māṃsa (Meat)

The text takes up the question of meat for gṛhasthas. Gṛhasthas may eat māṃsa on permitted days, that is, on particular occasions and in settings where dharma allows it. This is a balanced position: neither a total ban nor a total permission, but permission that depends on the situation.

Other Rules on Eating and Drinking

• Drinking with the left hand is forbidden.
• Rice that is cooked again (stale rice) raises particular problems.

Vegetables Forbidden in Certain Months

Three seasonal restrictions are given:

Why These Rules Matter

The food rules of the Brahma Khaṇḍa rest on the Purāṇic view that the body is a sacred tool for spiritual practice. What enters it as food directly affects the mind, health and the ability to practise bhakti (loving devotion). The rules also form a detailed system of ritual purity that works across time (tithis and seasons) and across combinations of materials.

Food Rules in the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janma Khaṇḍa (Chapter 85)

Chapter 85 of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janma Khaṇḍa gives a further set of food rules, arranged by varṇa (social role) and tithi. It also describes the karma-vipāka, the results that follow from breaking them.

Rules for Particular Days (For Everyone)

• Amāvāsyā (new moon), Pūrṇimā (full moon), Saṃkrānti (the day the sun enters a new sign), Caturdaśī (14th day) and Aṣṭamī (8th day): no maithuna (marital union), no fried food and no meat. Breaking this leads to birth as a cāṇḍāla (an outcaste).
• Sunday: no fish, no meat, no black gram (uḍad), no food in a bronze vessel and no red curry. Breaking this leads to Kumbhīpāka naraka.
• Fasting on Ekādaśī and Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī: these vratas (sacred vows) destroy the pāpa of 100 lifetimes. One who eats on these days without keeping the vrata, while others fast, takes on the pāpa of the three worlds.
• Fasting on Śivarātri and Śrī Rāma Navamī: eating on these days leads to Mahāraurava naraka.

Rules for Brāhmaṇas

• A brāhmaṇa who eats fish without real need must fast and perform the cāndrāyaṇa vrata (a fast in which food is reduced and increased with the phases of the moon).
• The Viṣṇu-śeṣa-bhojī, one who eats only what has first been offered to Viṣṇu as naivedya, never eats fish or meat. He gains the merit of an aśvamedha at every step.
• If a brāhmaṇa eats food cooked by a rajasvalā (a woman during her monthly period), food cooked by a veśyā (courtesan), or food mixed with wine, he becomes a mala-bhojī, one who eats impure food.
• A brāhmaṇa who takes Śālagrāma-jala (water that has bathed the Śālagrāma) or Viṣṇu-prasāda (food offered to Viṣṇu) purifies 100 people, including the pitṛs (ancestors). An ordinary brāhmaṇa purifies only the ground around him.

The Results of Stealing a Brāhmaṇa’s Property

One who steals brahma-vitta, the property of a brāhmaṇa, goes through this series of rebirths:

• 1,000 crore years as a vulture (gadda)
• 100 births as a pig
• 100 births as a tiger
• 7 births as a donkey
• 7 births as a cat
• 3 births as a mongoose
• 100 births as a rhinoceros
• 7 births as a horse
• 5 births as a crocodile
• 100 births as insects in the body of a kulaṭā (an unfaithful woman)
• 7 births each as a nāga (snake), then a śārdūla (leopard), then a mahiṣa (buffalo)
• 100 births as a frog, 7 as a goat, 100 as a bear, 1 lakh as a jackal, and then as a jalajūka (leech)
• 100 years of Brahmā in Kumbhīpāka naraka

Other Results

• A brāhmaṇa’s wife who points the tarjanī (forefinger) at her husband goes to Kumbhīpāka naraka. Through harsh words she becomes a crow, through striking him a pig, through arrogance a donkey, through foul speech a dog, and through evil looks she becomes blind. A pativratā, a wife faithful and devoted to her husband, goes to Vaikuṇṭha with him.
• Speaking ill of Śiva, Durgā, Gaṇapati, Sūrya, brāhmaṇas, Vaiṣṇavas or Viṣṇu leads to Mahāraurava naraka.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 27
• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 85