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Re: Rama does eat meat
On 12 Jan 1996, Sankar Jayanarayanan wrote:
> > **
> > >>Even in the Ramayana, Rama is described as eating meat.
> > >
> > >Strictly not true, at least for the Valmiki Ramayana, which is the most
> > >authoritative one currently available.
> > **
> >
> > I shall check on this. I read it in a translation of the V-Ramayana, but it's
> > back in India. I'll have to ask my father to search for the book and it'll
> > probably take some time. But, since you seem very confident I'll search and try
> > to get the exact verse so that there is no room for confusion.
>
>
> I already have checked it with my father. In the Sundara Kanda, the 36th sarga,
> the 41st sloka describes how Hanuman tells Sita, " When you were away, Sri Rama
> didnot even take deer meat." The meaning should be clear...
Actually, the meaning is not clear in the sense in which you mean. By
saying that "Sri Rama did not even take deer meat" Hanuman seems to be
implying that Sita's absence was cause for Rama to stop a routine action.
"...did not even take deer meat" seems to imply that Rama ceased doing
something he often did, in this case eating deer meet when Sita was
kidnapped; the use of "even" in the shloka signifies a kind of
imperitiveness of Rama's actions, some thing done which would ordinarily
not have been done.
Anshuman Pandey
