Why no Garlic and Onions?

Onion and garlic came from the dead body of a murdered cow and therefore they are considered like eating meat.

As per the story below (the scriptural source is not known) onion and garlic came from the dead body of a murdered cow and therefore they are considered like eating meat. They break the non-vegetarian principle from the shastric point of view. Strict vegetarians don't eat onion nor garlic. Since meat is tamasic, onions and garlic are also tamasic and rajasic food. They may have some medicinal value like even wine is used in medicines sometimes. Thus they are taboo for followers of Vedic culture. "Once, in Satya Yuga the rishis were performing gomedha and asvamedha sacrifices for the welfare of the whole universe. A cow or a horse would be cut into pieces and placed in the fire. Afterwards the rishis would utter mantras and the same animal would come alive in a beautiful young body.

One time the rishi who was about to perform a gomedha sacrifice, his wife was pregnant. She had a very strong desire to eat and she had heard that if, during pregnancy one has a desire to eat and does not fullfill this, then the baby that will be born will always have saliva coming from its mouth. Very strange, she desired strongly to eat meat, thus she decided to keep one piece of meat of the cow's body that was offered in sacrifice. She hid it and was making a plan to eat it very soon. At that time the rishi was finishing the sacrifice and uttered all the mantras for the new young cow to come to life. However when he saw the new cow, he noticed that there was a little part missing from her left side. He went into meditation and realized that his wife had taken away a piece of meat during the sacrifice. Now his wife also understood what happened and quickly threw the meat far away.

Due to the effect of the mantras uttered by the rishi there was now life in this piece of meat. Then the blood of this meat became red lentils, the bones became garlic and the meat became onions.

Thus these foods are never taken by any Vaishnava situated in the mode of goodness as Vaishnavas should be because it is not considered by us as offerable due to its association as a non-vegetarian food. Plus it is in the mode of ignorance." "It is not vegetarian to eat onions and garlic. They have discovered 21 different types (?) of slow poison in both. So they are not so innocent." (Source unknown)

About Onion and Garlic family
The Onion Family (Allium cepa): Shallots (stronger than onion, milder than garlic), Chives (and Garlic Chives - Allium tuberosum - Allium schoenoprasum L. Chives are perennials belonging to the onion family*). Leaks, Ramps, Scallions, Giant Onions, Yellow Onions, Sweet Onions, Torpedo Onions, Boller Onions, White Onions, Green Bunching Onions, Red Onions, Pear Onions,
Garlic: Giant Garlic, Garlic, Odourless Garlic (only to those who have little sense of smell, or out of cheating industry that puts so little garlic into its products that it appears initially odourless, but later comes out in the breath, in the sweat, in the passing of air, and in the urine, etc…), Rocambole Garlic, Asiatic Turban Garlic, Purple Stripe Garlic, Porcelain Garlic, Creole Garlic, Artichoke Garlic, Silverskin Garlic (to name but a few)

(*James M Stephens. 1999. University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agriculture - http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/scripts/htmlgen.exe?DOCUMENT_MV048; WG033; )
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Further Reasons For Not Taking Onions & Garlic: Most Vaishnavas do not consume either onions or garlic. However in our research we find it for a varied myriad of reasons.

(i) because they are of the food category of Rajas and Tamas. They cause a disturbance, and even pain and sickness to those who eat them. Especially if you are not used to eating them and find them slipped into a meal – painful air, diarrhea, are often side effects – symptoms of the modes of passion and ignorance.

(ii) because they (such foods) cannot be offered to the Deity.

(iii) because they impair Deity worship by their profound and even bad smell, and their repeating nature so as to effectively disqualify the sadhaka from performing Deity worship as laid down in the Hari Bhakti Vilas, and Bhaktirasamrta Sindhu (even Hing and Gingerly are mentioned, what to speak of onion and garlic) regarding making sure that such foods that repeat upon one, and that food in general is thoroughly digested before one performs the pujas.

(iv) Because the onion and garlic are considered to grow below the ground and thus tamasiki in nature many chaste Vaishnavas would not partake of them.

(v) because they are not a native to devotional cooking see (i) & (ii) & (iii) being introduced from other countries (karma bhumi – outside of dharma-bhumi) like so many other things.

(vi) because of the references to their origin as being derived of animal sacrifice, as evolved from the sin of steeling the offering and when caught for that by her husband throwing that to a distant place where due to its being impregnated with life invoking mantras took the seed form as red dahl, red onion and white onion.

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Shared by Camelia

1)When garlic is used as food in Chinese culture it is considered harmful to the stomach, liver and eyes, and a cause of dizziness and scattered energy when consumed in immoderate amounts.

2)The Taoists realized thousands of years ago that plants of the alliaceous family were detrimental to humans in their healthy state. In his writings, one sage Tsang-Tsze described the Alliums as the "five fragrant or spicy scented vegetables" - that each have a detrimental effect on one of the following five organs - liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and heart. Specifically, onions are harmful to the lungs, garlic to the heart, leeks to the spleen, chives to the liver and spring onions to the kidneys.

3)Reiki practitioners explain that garlic and onions are among the first substances to be expelled from a person’s system – along with tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical medications. This makes it apparent that alliaceous plants have a negative effect on the human body and should be avoided for health reasons.

4)Homeopathic medicine comes to the same conclusion when it recognizes that red onion produces a dry cough, watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose and other familiar cold-related symptoms when consumed.

5)The garlic family of plants has been widely recognized as being harmful to dogs.

6)Garlic and onions are both rajasic and tamasic, and are forbidden to yogis because they root the consciousness more firmly in the body.

7)Ayurveda suggests that garlic and onion - it is a tonic for loss of sexual power from any cause, sexual debility, impotency from over-indulgence in sex and nervous exhaustion from dissipating sexual habits. It is also producing offensive breath and body odour, these (alliaceous) plants induce aggravation, agitation, anxiety and aggression. Thus they are harmful physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

8)Onion and garlic can be beneficial to the physical body when taken in normal quantities, they are both harmful for the overall mental condition.

9)According to India's ancient Vedic scriptures, foods are characterized in three ways: Goodness (Sattvic), Passion (Rajasic), and Ignorance (Tamasic). Both onion and garlic are of the Rajasic category. Such foods disturb the mind and cause an increase in sensual desires and are therefore detrimental for performing meditation and raising consciousness.

10)Onions and garlic should be used for medicinal purposes.

11)The diet of the orthodox Hindu also excludes alcohol, as well as "overly-stimulating" foods such as onions and garlic.