What Is The Vaishyas Diet?

Vaishya is the third highest of the four social classes, or varnas, in Hindu India. While Vaishya were considered commoners, they were not servile groups in this caste system. The Vaishya were believed to have certain qualities, prompting the need to eat certain foods.

Identification

Food was believed to affect the intelligence of the person eating it. Vaishyas consumed a Sattvic diet. Such a diet includes fruits, honey, roots, milk and vegetables. The sattva qualities these foods are meant to impart include honesty, intelligence, wisdom and goodness, according to the "Caste System of India," by Ekta Singh.

Function

Under the theory behind the varnas, Vaishyas were believed to have a set of qualities defined as Raja. Raja qualities include pride, valor and passion. That's why it was important for Vaishyas to consume the Sattvic diet, which was meant to bring balance to this passionate nature.

Types

The Vaishyas diet is traditionally vegetarian in most places. In addition to meat, liquor is also eschewed. according to the "Encyclopedia of Teaching Sociology." Meat was believed to have Tamas qualities, which include stupidity, lack of creativity and dullness, Singh notes.

Considerations

The Vaishyas diet would vary depending on which part of India a person lived in, Singh says. That's because the same food was believed to have a different dosage of a particular quality, such as Tamas, depending on the person's location. That means someone believed to have Raja qualities who lived in one place might eat mutton but someone believed to have the same qualities who lived in another location might not.

Theory

The different varnas, or classes, were believed to be derived from a creator god named Prajapati. The top class, Brahman, came from his head. The second-highest, the Kshatriya, came from his arms. The third-highest, Vaishya, came from his thighs. The lowest, the Sudra, came from his feet. The diets of each of these classes reflected needs based on the qualities they received when created. Brahmans were believed to have Sattvic qualities, while the Kshatriyas shared the Raja qualities with the Vaishyas. The Sudras were believed to have the Tamas qualities.