18 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
What are the historical roots of vegetarianism in India? Does it start with Jainism and get adapted later by Brahminism or did it exist in Brahminism before it did in Jainism and Buddhism?
Comment by postal-history at 03/12/2024 at 17:24 UTC*
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I am delighted you asked this in a "short answer" thread, as I can provide the short answer that ancient (edit: "Hindu") schools in India were not in direct conversation with others. Buddhism and Jainism have *written* rules of vegetarianism which predate any sort of vegetarian discourse by Hindu philosophical schools. Ancient Hinduism had its own discourse of compassion towards animals, but it focused on avoiding the sacrificial slaughter of earlier generations (relevant primary texts here[1]). We can see that there was a slow move from animal sacrifice towards respect for animal life, but it's not clear whether Brahmins took up vegetarianism in direct reaction to Buddhist and Jain reformers since that sort of cross-sect dialogue doesn't exist.
1: https://namahshivaya.net/pashunampati-pashupati-pasunam/
Also, I should note that this lack of surviving debate is confined to this ancient period. In later centuries, various Hindu schools would publish long philosophical debates with each other, which almost always take care to provide accurate descriptions of their opponents' viewpoints before responding with their own viewpoints. They read to me as much more responsible than contemporary Christian heresy-hunting or the sort of debates I see in academia these days.