There is a concept of purity and impurity in many cultures.
Certain things are considered pure, and are thus holy while some are considered
impure and shunned. For instance, the clothes on a dead body is considered
impure, so are spit, faeces, etc. That is to say, people wouldn’t want to touch
the clothes on a dead person on their own accord, since it is considered impure
and if they do, they might want to take a ritual bath to cleanse themselves.
But nature does not discriminate between purity and impurity, and what we would
otherwise deem impure turns into something most pure. Don’t believe me?
Spit.
Would you consume spit? Crinkling your nose, are you?
Well, bees suck nectar from flowers and spit it out in the
beehive. In fact, the nectar is acted upon by chemicals in the bees’ mouth
before being deposited. But look at the irony. This very honey that contains the spit of bees is considered
to be most pure especially for offering to the Lord! Yuck or Yum?
Would you drink or eat someone else’s leftovers? No?
Milk, is considered to be pure and has religious significance. But isn't the milk from the cow first suckled by the calf? What we get to partake is its leftover
mostly mixed with its saliva.
Faeces.
Ughh! Yes?
The crow is known to eat the fruits of the peepal tree and
excrete its seeds. These seeds grow into peepal trees that are considered most
sacred by us.
Why just religion? Did you know that the most expensive coffee
is the Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee, which is obtained by feeding the Asian Palm
civet with coffee berries? These berries are then acted upon by digestive
juices of the simian and then excreted as more flavourful coffee seeds. They sell
for $3000 per kilogram!
There’s even a facial treatment that uses the poop of
nightingales to give you a glowing and blemish free skin!
Clothes
on a dead body.
Who would like to wear the clothes removed from a dead body?
Not me, do you say?
Silk, the most expensive material is obtained from the cocoon
of the silkworm. The cocoon contains the larvae or the young ones of the
silkworm. They are harvested and put on boiling hot water vapours which kills
the larvae and softens the cocoon. Silk is then spun from the cocoon. The irony
is that silk clothing is considered to be the most auspicious and used during
pujas.
Water
impure.
Would you consider drinking a pot of water that has flowed
over hair? No?
Well, ancient folklore mentions that the holy river Ganges
flows from the hair of Lord Shiva. There is apparently nothing purer than the
water of the Ganges. It is known to cure diseases and cleanse the body and
soul.
See what I mean? How the most impure turns into the most pure
before our very eyes? I do not want to turn you off or sow seeds that will make
you consider these things as impure. The point is that, impurity and purity are
a case in perspective. This post is just food for thought (pun unintended!) for
those who squirm at every little instance of impurity or the religious fanatics
who lay out elaborate purification rituals to be followed. Who is to say what’s
pure and what’s impure? Purity and impurity are just in the mind, what say?
