Jain Vegetarianism - Specific Rules

Specific Rules

• Eating at night is not recommended because of the many creatures that come out at night and which may be accidentally killed due to poor lighting or attraction to fire.
• Freshness: Food must be prepared fresh daily. Keeping cooked food overnight is forbidden.
• Vegetarian life: Traditionally Jains have been lacto-vegetarians, but modern dairy farming methods, particularly what happens to the male calves (the veal market) as well as cows has caused many to pursue a vegan diet eating no animal products nor milk, cream or yoghurt.
• Water is filtered through three layers of cotton cloth before use for cooking or drinking. Water should be boiled and cooled before drinking to avoid illness caused by micro-organisms. Illness is thought to engender intolerance.
• Root Vegetables: (potatoes, carrots, turnips) are forbidden because uprooting a plant kills it (non-violence) and because infinite number of souls (tiny creatures) may inhabit roots (anantkayi).
• Cereal Grains are permitted.
• Vegetable Greens are considered marginal because they believe plucking them involves pain to the plant. Most Jains consider greens acceptable but cabbages and other greens where the whole top is cut and the plant thus killed are forbidden during monsoon.
• Mushrooms, Fungus and Yeasts are forbidden because they are parasites, grow in non-hygienic environments and may harbor other life forms.
• Honey is forbidden as the excrement of bees. Multiple living beings keep taking birth in the honey and hence eating honey causes violence.
• Eggs are forbidden as progeny of five-sensed beings.
• Cheese and Yogurt are permissible but must be freshly prepared on the day they are eaten and no animal rennet may be used to make them. Vegetable and Microbial rennet is acceptable but in strict practice only acid coagulated fresh cheese will fit the same day rule. The previous day's yogurt may not be use as a starter the next day.
• Vinegar is forbidden, it's a product of fermentation (yeast to alcohol then bacterial to vinegar).
• Alcohol is forbidden because it may destroy the power of discrimination, create delusions and result in ill health. Also alcoholic beverages may be considered non-vegetarian because of additives, some of which are of animal origin. They are also invariably made with yeast and usually contain some residual yeast organisms.
• Onions, Garlic, Scallions, Chives and Leeks fall under the category of "roots" the pulling of which kills the whole plant so they are forbidden.
• Silver Foils common in India as decoration on sweets are banned because the foils are pounded out between layers of bull intestine and are therefor not vegetarian.