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Onion and Garlic are prohibited to be offered as Prasadam to God. And are even classified as rajasic/tamasic according to Ayurveda. However Brinjal and Hing are also rajasic/sattvik(according to ayurveda) but they are allowed to offer as Prasadam. Why so?

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  • There is a belief that Onion and Garlic emerged from the bloo d of the asura who deceitfully drank Amrit.This can be one reason.
    – Amethyst
    Commented Jun 29, 2021 at 17:16
  • @Amethyst yes I know. They came from rahu ketu. bones became garlic muscles became onion or vice versa. Don't remember but I know Ramana Maharshi said too. But my point is from other sects as well like Vaishnavism and Ayurveda as Sri Vishnu never takes tamasic/rajasic prasadam.
    – RishX
    Commented Jun 29, 2021 at 18:23

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There are various opinions on which foods are allowed/disallowed. The most famous one is obviously the Bhagavad Gita. The Puranas and Dharma texts have more details. Ayurveda is another such text.

For Srivaishnavas (followers of Ramanuja Sampradaya) the rules of the Ahara-Niyamam text of Vedanta Desika form the authority in regards to what can and cannot be consumed.

As far as asafoetida is concerned, orthodox Srivaishnavas do not consume it however it is is culturally ubiquitous and even many temples use the ingredient.

Brinjal is not prohibited as far as I know in Srivaishnava practice. The Ahara Niyaman explicitly prohibits white Brinjal (some interpret this to include green Brinjal as well) with the implication that the common purple one is allowed. In Srivaishnava practice, Brinjal is not offered to the pitrus, hence not cooked on amavasya, yugaadi, shraadhas etc.

You can read Vedanta Desika's Ahara Niyamam here. Note that this translation has the following for the eleventh verse:

[11] Do not eat,

  • ghee that is served after you have begun eating
  • foods that have been cooked twice (reheated?)
  • foods served by bare hand or spatulas made of iron, uncooked foods may be served by bare hand
  • foods already bitten into,
  • old, and spoilt foods
  • foods prepared in someone else's house (no potluck)
  • foods that someone else wanted or rejected
  • foods with smell of earth, or separated by finger nails, salt that you can see
  • separated for one self and guests
  • sap coming out of trees, except asafoetida.

The original Tamil text doesn't mention the "except asafoetida" part. It is a clarification from the translator which is unacceptable.

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  • Thanks! But Brinjal is tamasic no? How can it be offered to Sri Vishnu? Good to know some Vaishnavas explicitly forbid asafoetida. But yeah most don't follow it
    – RishX
    Commented Jul 3, 2021 at 8:28
  • Clarified in the answer that the Ahara Niyaman explicitly prohibits white Brinjal and it may be inferred that the common purple Brinjal is okay to consume. What is the ayurvedic text that prohibits purple Brinjal?
    – hashable
    Commented Jul 3, 2021 at 13:04
  • well I never knew about white brinjal. Btw what is the difference between two? If one is prohibited and other allowed, there might be some difference.I read brinjal being tamasic from few Ayurveda blogs as well as some Ayurvedic encyclopaedia. Though it's been quite some time now.
    – RishX
    Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 13:55
  • @hashable Regarding tree sap/asafoetida, Manusmriti 5.6 says: "He shall carefully avoid the red exudation from trees". Since it mentions red, the commentators like Medhatithi take it to mean that non-red sap, like asafoetida are allowed. Asafoetida comes out white. wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/… | So, is there another text cited by Desikan that prohibits ALL tree sap?
    – Ikshvaku
    Commented Aug 3, 2021 at 0:48

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