The Bhagavad gita states that all foods can be classified according to the three modes of material nature - goodness, passion, and ignorance. These modes (or characteristics of the material energy) directly influence our mind, body, and intelligence. The subtle influence of these modes are sometimes compared to the strings of a pupeteer, and they bind and manipulate our senses, causing us to act in ways we sometimes later regret. The Bhagavad gita also states, however, that the soul is not completely helpless -- we do have a choice -- for we are eternally individual beings with a minute degree of independence. The quality of those choices, therefore, directly effects the manner in which the "strings" of the material energy manipulate our destiny. Here Lord Krishna describes the results of eating under the influence of the mode of goodness:

Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one's existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart. (Bhagavad gita 17.8)

The Bhagavad gita further states that vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, sugar, and milk products are foods in the mode of goodness and may be offered in sacrifice, or in other words: they can be transformed and purified of all karma.

yagya-sishtasinah santo
muchyante sarva-kilbishai
bhunjate te tv agham papa
ye pacanty atma-karanat

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin. (Bhagavad-gita 3.13)

Foods that cannot be used in sacrifice, or as offerings to the Lord, are described thus:

Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease. (Bhagavad-gita 17.9)

Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness. (Bhagavad-gita 17.10)

Food for Life founder, Srila Prabhupada comments:

Foods in the mode of passion, which are bitter, too salty, or too hot or overly mixed with red pepper, cause misery by reducing the mucus in the stomach, leading to disease. Foods in the mode of ignorance or darkness are essentially those that are not fresh. Any food cooked more than three hours before it is eaten (except prasadam, food offered to the Lord) is considered to be in the mode of darkness. Because they are decomposing, such foods give a bad odor, which often attracts people in this mode but repulses those in the mode of goodness... The best food is the remnants of what is offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead... Therefore to make food antiseptic, eatable and palatable for all persons, one should offer food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As a general rule, foods in the modes of passion and ignorance are not offerable to God (Krishna), because such eatables "cause pain, distress and disease" and are "putrid, decomposed and unclean." As may be guessed, meat, fish, and eggs are foods in the lower modes. But there are also a few vegetarian items that are classified in the lower modes - garlic and onions*, for example. They cannot be offered in sacrifice, since these foods are sexually agitating and impure, and they directly interfere with the ultimate purpose of eating sanctified foods: to increase the duration of life, purify the mind, aid bodily strength and reestablish our union (yoga) with the supreme.

* (Hing, sometimes called asafetida, is an acceptable substitute for them in cooking and is available in most Oriental or Indian specialty shops.)

Bhagavad gita quotations © Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Excerpt from Beyond Beef

The Psychology of Beef (Chapter 33):

"...Eating, more than any other single experience, brings us into a full relationship with the natural world. The act itself calls forth the full embodiment of our senses - taste, smell, touch, hearing, and sight. We know nature largely by the various ways we consume it. Eating establishes the most primordial of all human bonds with the environment, and that is why in most cultures the experience is celebrated as a sacred act and a communion as well as an act of survival and replenishment. Eating, then, is the bridge that connects culture with nature, the social order with the natural order. Anne Murcott argues that "food is an especially appropriate 'mediator' because when we eat we establish, in a literal sense, a direct identity between ourselves (culture) and our food (nature)."

© Jeremy Rifkin