The Ideal of Proper Diet

Meaning: The line of Yajurved 12/76 has given the information about our diet as follows - body is the principal means for 'dharma, artha, kama and moksha'. Therefore, good health must be maintained by proper diet, disciplined daily routine and benevolent conduct. Only a disease-free body is the source of all happiness.

Message: The joy of heavenly bliss and salvation is possible in this life itself. But it so happens that we do not properly understands our life's objective and makes all attempts in the wrong direction for attaining it. We can achieve the above four goals of life i.e. 'dharma, artha, kama and moksha' only by a healthy body. We can remain alive by maintaining physical health. Unhealthy, ill and weak persons are already like half-dead. This is because they suffer not only the bodily ailments, but the simultaneous incapacity and the pain of failure also breaks them mentally, thus neglect of health is very costly for everyone.

Good health does not depend on medicines. It cannot also be bought by money. It is also foolish to think of protecting health by imbibing costly materials. Good health depends only on diet, proper routine, exercise and restraint or discipline. The royal road to maintaining proper health and increasing it is to live life in harmony with nature regarding food-habits, daily routine, and lead a natural life. People fall ill with unnatural, artificial, pompous and luxurious life style and die at an early age. All the living beings, insects, birds, animals etc follow the rules of nature; as a result they never fall ill. If by some accident or fights among themselves, they do fall ill, they automatically come back to normal by the grace of Mother Nature. Those animals and birds that have come under the control of man, they only require veterinary dispensaries.

Only man is a very foolish animal who himself invites illness because of wrong conduct, indiscipline and irregularity. This disregard for food and routine is a result of carelessness, laziness, negligence etc. Nature has made man as the most beautiful, healthy, shapely and long-lived animal complete with physical, mental and spiritual powers. The best and easy way for excellent health is that as far as possible only natural (uncooked) food should be taken. The essential elements of the food will be alive within the food to the extent that it does not come into contact with fire (or heat) and that way these elements will provide strength to the body. Ripe seasonal fruits, raw vegetables, sprouted grains and boiled or steam-cooked food is excellent from every point of view, is 'saatvik' and nutritious'

If the body is healthy, the mind also is healthy; it gets pure and pleasant thoughts and is filled with pleasant and good imagination. The mind gets engaged in work, there is no laziness or uneasy feeling and the heart is cheerful and light like a flower.

The Ideal of proper diet, proper routine and proper conduct must always be the guiding principal of our lives.