Everybody is talking about Veganism; the power of plants, avoiding dairy products, saving animals, and much more.
In previous blogs, we have discussed a lot of things about it like why it is important to be a vegan and how it is in favor of Mother Earth, etc.
But have you ever thought about why the word “Vegan” came into existence, how it started or what was the reason behind it or when being plant-based became a choice that was made out of an ethical principle?
So, let's delve into the history of veganism and try to understand various perspectives on its existence.
Ancient History:
One of the many arguments against veganism is that it’s a new phenomenon that emphasizes plant-based food and our ancestors have “always” eaten meat.
Hillary Maywell of National Geographic theorizes that “Some early humans may have started eating meat as a way to survive within their own ecological niche.”
Again, a question arises that, once humans started eating animals then, when and how did some decide to speak out against this eating animals practice?
There is no doubt that the past has much more than we know about it. Many important people’s thoughts and events took place in favor of vegetarianism but I tried to make the information less comprehensive while not going too deep.
Although the term veganism was coined in 1944 by British animal rights advocate Donald Watson, its concept can be traced back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean societies. To find the origins of veganism, we must look at the history of vegetarianism.
In Egypt from 1380–1362 BCE Akhenaten, known as “the heretic king” was an Egyptian Ruler and pacifist who banned animal sacrifice and traditional Egyptian religion and started a religion based on compassion and monotheism. Akhenaten believed it to be sinful to take away any life given by Aten, his monotheistic deity.
According to Donald Mackenzie, author of Egyptian Myth and Legend, “No sacrifices were offered up in his temple; the fruits of the earth alone were laid on the alters”
Many events happened around the world for the rights of animals. In promoting vegetarianism and veganism, ancient Indian traditions have an amusing history.
Around 500 BCE back, the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos promoted kindness among all species. He was the first to mention the term vegetarianism. He stated:
"As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love".
Meanwhile, the founder of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha advised his followers to exercise cognizance and self-control in their dietary choices. As a result, many of the followers, especially monks and nuns, obey vegetarian or vegan diets as part of their spiritual beliefs.
Other side Jainism, is perhaps the strictest religion in its devotion to ahimsa and non-violence. The followers of Jainism believe in the holiness of all life forms and serve them better. They follow a path of non-violence towards all living beings, including plants, animals, and insects. Their dietary restrictions also go beyond vegetarianism which excludes the foods that involve killing or harming living organisms.
The 24th Tirthankara of Jain Lord Mahavira stated his views on “what is the religion from a realistic point of view?”-
“The realistic religion consists of four parts:
As per the Yoga Shastra a Jainism scripture, “Non-injury to all living beings is the only religion…this is the essence of wisdom; not to kill anything. All breathing, existing, living sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure unchangeable law. Therefore, cease to injure living things. All living things love their life, desire pleasure, and do not like pain; they dislike any injury to themselves; everybody is desirous of life and to every being, his life is very dear.”
The underlying principles of ahimsa continue to inspire many people to adopt plant-based lifestyles today.
Similarly, the followers of Hinduism also advocated vegetarianism, believing that humans should not inflict pain on other animals. We can see that many Hindu festivals and rituals involve plant-based offerings rather than animal sacrifices. As the Hinduism holy book “The Bhagavad Gita” states, “One is dearest to the god who has no enemies among the living beings, who is nonviolent to all creatures.”
Tenmu the 40th Emperor of Japan, banned the consumption of meat from cows, horses, dogs, chickens, and monkeys, and this ban on eating meat in Japan lasted 12 centuries.
Reverend William Cowherd the founder of the Bible Christian Church coined the term "vegetarian” in 1806 in England. In his opinion, early vegetarians abstained from meat but consumed dairy products and eggs.
The beliefs of founders of many religions all over the world were based on harmony in all living beings and because of that veganism was more often seen as a philosophical proposition and an ethical choice.
Famous Vegetarians in Ancient Times
Zeno of Citium (l. c. 336-265 BCE) was a vegetarian, who was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy in Athens. Some prominent stoics, like Zeno, Ovid, and Seneca refrained from eating animals. Although stoics did believe that animals were on a lower level than humans, they maintained that eating animal flesh is unnecessary for human nutrition as humans can have nutrients by eating plant products. Musonius Rufus straight out told his students eating meat tainted the soul.
The Buddhist Emperor Ashoka (304 BCE–232 BCE) was a vegetarian and a strong-minded promoter of non-violence to animals. Aligning with his beliefs he circulated detailed laws aimed at the protection of many species, eradicated animal sacrifice at his court, and admonished the people to avoid all kinds of unnecessary killing and injury.
Ovid, a Pythagorean-influenced Stoic and poet of Metamorphoses, pled for people to abandon animal sacrifice and abstain from eating flesh.
Other vegetarians Pythagoras and Epicurus greatly influenced many people and one of them was the Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD) who adopted a vegetarian diet. Seneca criticized the cruelty of the games used by Rome to befuddle the public.
Many more personalities who adopted vegetarianism were Plutarch, the Neo-Platonist, Greek philosopher Plotinus, Prophet Mani founder of Manichaeism and the list goes on…
It’s just a single glance at vegetarianism and veganism. I tried to include all the important information and events; unintentionally didn’t skip any info. There are many more unknown facts and personalities that are hidden because of not availability of information.
In the next part, we will delve into more information on how veganism comes out from vegetarianism.
Do not forget to comment on how you like it. Till then,
Stay Curious, Stay Vegan…!!!