Page 83 - Complete Works of Dr. KCV Volume 1

Commandment - 8
Be happy to eat in constant Divine thought whatever you get,
with due regard to honest and pious earnings.
The food that we eat must be firstly piously and honestly earned. Unrighteously earned food is like poison to the very system. Foods are of good quality when they are Sattva, both regards to the means and with regard to their quality as such, that is which have sattvic nature, as distinguished from Rajasic and Tamasic. Tamoguna foods produce inertia, perversion, sleep and so on, whereas Rajoguna foods are those which increase heat and perverse activity and passion and more desire. Sattvic foods grant lightness to the system and help making the Indriyas of the body do their allotted work (Dharma) skillfully and efficiently. The body is made up of several organs all of which are intended in a sense to develop skilful work and efficiency; and they have right activity as well as wrong activity. Desires feed the wrong activity or make for wrong activity and inertia too, whereas work in the consciousness that this body is for work of God or liberation from the body's inertia and desires for doing service to God or to know God will not bind man (Na Karma Lipyata Nare). Karmas performed with the awareness that all belong to God will not stain or touch man. Sattvika-Bhava is necessary, along with the same there must be Sattvika-Food. In our ancient Ayurvedic Materia Medica (Dhatu-patha) we have clear instruction about the value of our food, different kinds of vegetables whether they are Satva-producing or Rajas- producing or Tamas- producing. This wholesome method has been completely forgotten nowadays when the hotel-keepers and chefs prescribe what is tasty according to their capacity to tempt an eater to ask for more of it. Thus appetizers are being created which create more and more desire. The modern civilization is a dinner civilization.
I remember Svami Vivekananda called Hinduism kitchen-religion; it was rather unkind of him. There is a great truth if it is said that eating is not the primary test of religion, but perhaps he was referring to the exclusiveness and privacy of eating some people have counselled. The fact is that eating