History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c41.s4.16

v3.c41.s4.16

Lastly the food of the people has already been described in detail. The Brahmins in the north ate the flesh of certain animals only and abstained from wine. In the south Brahmins abstained from both. The Vaiśyas followed the Brahmins. Indeed Jainism having prospered and Vaiśyas being generally Jains it may be said that Brahmins followed the Jains and disarmed their criticism by logically and correctly observing the doctrine of Ahimsā. The wave of Ahimsā was on the land in this sub-period and beside Jains, Vaishnavas and Lingāyats became strict vegetarians. This led to the restriction of confining food also to each sub-caste. Whereas in former times Brahmins had no objection to dine with Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas and even some good Śudras, they now restricted themselves to their own caste, nay, even sub-caste, since some Brahmins still continued to eat flesh, as proved by a Kalivarja text. Thus not only intermarriage but even interdining ceased during this subperiod among the different subsections into which Hindu society was now split up.