Vivekananda Mailing List-10/25/03

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And this discrimination of food is, after all, of secondary importance.

The very same passage quoted above is explained by Shankara in his

Bhâshya on the Upanishads in a different way by giving an entirely

different meaning to the word Âhâra, translated generally as food.

According to him, " That which is gathered in is Ahara. The knowledge of

the sensations, such as sound etc., is gathered in for the enjoyment of

the enjoyer (self); the purification of the knowledge which gathers in

the perception of the senses is the purifying of the food (Ahara). The

word 'purification-of-food' means the acquiring of the knowledge of

sensations untouched by the defects of attachment, aversion, and

delusion; such is the meaning. Therefore such knowledge or Ahara being

purified, the Sattva material of the possessor it — the internal organ

— will become purified, and the Sattva being purified, an unbroken

memory of the Infinite One, who has been known in His real nature from

scriptures, will result. "