Alcohol
Alcohol is a chemical produced by fermentation and which suppresses the central nervous system and causes intoxication when ingested. The word alcohol comes from the Arabic al meaning ‘the’ and kahal meaning ‘collyrium’ and was originally an alchemic term. Alcoholic drinks are usually categorized into four different types - beers made from fermented grains, wines made from fermented fruits and spirits made by distilling either beers or wines. Four types of alcoholic drinks are mentioned in the Tipitaka. Surà was brewed from rice or flour (Sutta Nipata 398; Vinaya 1. 205), meraya was distilled alcohol made from sugar or fruit and sometimes flavored with sugar, pepper or the bark of a certain tree (Majjhima Nikaya 1. 238), majja was made from honey and àsava was made from the juice of the palmyra palm or the wild date palm and could be either just brewed or distilled (Vinaya 2. 294). The fifth Precept which all Buddhists undertake to practice is to abstain from consuming alcohol or any other recreational drugs. In the case of alcohol this is mainly because alcoholic intoxication clouds the mind, while the whole rational of Buddhism is to clarify the mind. However, drinking alcohol also has several other personal and social disadvantages. The Buddha says, ‘There are these six dangers of drinking alcohol; loss of wealth, increase of quarrels, ill-health, bad reputation, making a fool of oneself and impaired intelligence’ (Digha Nikaya 3. 182). The Buddhist tradition says that if one breaks the fifth Precept this can easily lead to breaking all the others.
The Buddha advised all his disciples, monastic and lay, to abstain from alcohol. The reasons given for this were rational one. The central focus of the Buddha’s Path was the mind. Only a mind that is clear and alert, steady and focused is capable of discerning Truth and the Buddha believed and science confirms that alcohol clouds the mind. There are three main types of alcohol: beers made from fermented grains, wines from grapes or other fruits, and spirits made by distilling the first two type, examples being toddy, whisky and vodka. It is not certain whether distillation was known during the Buddha’s time although some of the terminology in Pāṇini’s Aṣtādhyāyī (circa 300 BCE) point to the manufacture of spirits. Alcoholic drinks in ancient India were made from fruit, grains, sugarcane juice, palm juice, honey and stale cakes. While the Buddha disapproved of drinking and the Brahmanical law books, the Dharmaśāstras, railed against alcohol in the strongest terms, such admonitions probably had only limited effect. There are numerous references in the Tipiṭaka to taverns (pānāgāra or surāgeha, Ja.I,304; 350). to drunken reverie at festivals, to tipplers eating meat or fish with their drink, and to alcohol being offered to local nature spirits and gods (Ja.I, 425; 489) Alcohol was served to guests arriving for the opening of a new house, to women when the bride arrived at the groom’s house, and to the women who danced at weddings. The Buddha considered abstaining from alcohol to be so fundamental to his teaching that he made it one of the five basic ethical principles expected of all his disciples. Drinking he said, wastes money, leads to quarrels, causes sickness and mental confusion, and may even result people exposing themselves in public (D.III,182-183).
The Vedas, the sacred scriptures of Brahmanism, considered alcohol to be a divine gift and associated it with certain gods, particularly Soma and Varuṇa. The early Buddhists chose to give a more naturalistic, not to say more plausible, account of its origins. The Jātaka tells a story of how alcohol was discovered. It seems that long ago in a certain forest there was a fruit tree, which had a large forked trunk with a depression in it. Rainwater collected in this depression, fruit from the tree fell into it, and warmed by the sun, it gradually fermented. During the summer, thirsty birds drank from the depression, became intoxicated, fell to the ground and after sleeping for a while, flew off. A hunter observed this and curious as to its cause, drank some of the liquid and became intoxicated. He introduced this drink to his friends who introduced it to others and so it was that alcohol became known. According to the story, this discovery opened the way for innumerable social ills (Ja.V,12-20).
References
- Alcohol: Our Favourite Drug, J. R. West, 1986.
- Buddhism A to Z. Ven. Dhammika, 2007.
- http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/