Prescription (Conversations)

Expressions researched:
"prescription" |"prescriptions"

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Interview -- March 9, 1968, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: Then your next question is, "Is diet an important segment of the word?" Yes. Diet is very important thing. Just like when a patient goes to a physician, he prescribes a certain type of diet. Why? That's a practical fact. Why you accept a physician prescription of diet? Suppose a man is suffering from diabetes; his diet is different. A man is suffering from tuberculosis; his diet is different. A man is suffering from typhoid fever; his diet is different. Therefore diet shall not be extravagant or whimsical. They must be selected. First of all we have to see what is the diet of the human being. Actually I read in some scientific magazine, a medical magazine, that our teeth is not meant for eating meats. These teeth are meant for eating fruits. Actually the shape of the teeth is like that, just like sharp knife. You can, apple you can take immediately. But if you take one piece of meat, you cannot eat so easily with these teeth. So first of all you have to understand what is your diet. So your diet is different from animals' diet. You take anything. Even stool is food for a certain animal, but that does not mean I have to eat stool also. Stool may be eatable for a certain type of animal. "Oh, that is not my diet or food." Similarly, we have to discriminate.