Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 75: Bharata’s Conversation with Kausalyā-devī
Text 2.75.29
पायसं कृसरं छागं वृथा सोऽश्नातु निर्घृणः।
गुरूंश्चाप्यवजानातु यस्यार्योऽनुमते गतः॥
pāyasaṁ kṛsaraṁ chāgaṁ vṛthā so ’śnātu nirghṛṇaḥ
gurūṁś cāpy avajānātu yasyāryo ’numate gataḥ
pāyasam = pāyasa; kṛsaram = and tilaudana; chāgam = [eat] the flesh of a goat or any other animal; vṛthā = uselessly; saḥ = he; aśnātu = may eat; nirghṛṇaḥ = cruelly; gurūn = their gurus; ca api = and; avajānātu = disrespect; yasya = whose; āryaḥ = noble Rāma; anumate = with consent; gataḥ = has departed [to the forest].
May he who consents to the noble Rāma’s departure [to the forest] uselessly eat pāyasa and tilaudana, cruelly [eat] the flesh of a goat or any other animal, and disrespect their gurus.1
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: chāgam ajam, māṁsa-mātropalakṣaṇam etat.
Disrespect of gurus refers to activities such as by not standing up and offering respectful obeisances [when such superiors are seen at least once a day].
NOTE. Tilaudana is a sesamum dish containing rice. It is generally offered to one’s forefathers during the śrāddha ritual. Pāyasa is sweet rice and was customarily offered to the devas.
To eat these without offering them in sacrifice to one’s superiors is to eat uselessly. By engaging in these activities, one accrues sinful reactions.
Eating the meat of specific animals was allowed prior to Kali-yuga for those who did not seek liberation from material existence, provided they followed the relevant scriptural allowances and prohibitions. Otherwise, meat-eating leads to sinful reactions.
In Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta (2.2), Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura refers to gurus [in the context of varṇāśrama-dharma] as (1) one’s parents, (2) teachers, especially those who initiate one into or instruct one about spiritual life, and (3) those who are superior by relation and age. Disrespecting them leads to sinful reactions.