By Sau. Shriya Ravi (taken from Sri Simham Issue 2)
Have you ever wondered about the origins and reasons why we do certain things, like fasting during an eclipse? Well, read on to find out.
Why not eat food during an eclipse?
When an eclipse occurs, the sunlight is blocked by the moon; thus, the ultraviolet rays and blue light are at a dangerous level of toxicity. Therefore, the level of bacteria in cooked food increases. These radiations badly affect the food, which, when consumed, may cause stomach disorders and may lead to diseases. The Vedas have said that these radiations are so powerful that they may have after-effects in the next birth too. That is the reason why vedic scriptures suggested that food should not be cooked or eaten during the eclipse.
You may have seen that darbhai grass is kept with food. The particles of darbhai destroy the toxic rays, thus reducing the impact on the surrounding edible items.
Why don’t we eat rice and fast during ekadashi?
I’m sure that you all know that rice is not consumed on Ekadashi. In fact, some people fast too. Now, you will be reading about the story and the scientific reason behind this tradition. According to a story, sweat from Lord Brahma’s forehead fell and took the form of a demon. When the demon asked Brahma to give him a place to live, Brahma asked him to reside in the rice eaten by humans on Ekadashi and be converted into worms in their stomach. This is a religious belief.
There is also science behind fasting during Ekadashi. It is a fact proven by scientists that air pressure in the atmosphere changes on Amavasya (Full moon), and this is understood by studying tidal waves and their changes. On Amavasya, because of the extremely high gravitational force, there are high tides, but from Pratamai, the atmospheric pressure decreases. Thus, on the 11th day from Amavasya (Ekadashi), the pressure is almost zero. Fasting on any other day can be very tiring as the atmospheric pressure will put a huge toll on the body, but this doesn’t happen on Ekadashi. This means that on Ekadashi, it is easier to clean and detox our bodies from the unhealthy food we may eat on other days. On the next day, Dwadasi, we need to eat food early in the morning. This is because the atmospheric pressure would rise once again.
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