Onion and Garlic

palandu lasunam sigrum alambum grjanam palam

bhunkte yo vai naro brahman vratam candrayanam caret

(Padma Purana, Brahma Khanda 19.10, spoken by Suta Gosvami)

O sages, one who eats garlic, onions, sigrum (a kind of plant), turnips, bottle gourd and meat, that person
should observe a candrayana fast.

vrntakam jalisakam kusumbha smantakam tatha

palandu lasunam suklam niryasan caiva varjayet
grjanam kinsukan caiva kukundanca tathaiva ca
udumbaram alavun ca jagdhva patati vai dvijah

(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 8.158,159, from Kurma Purana)

One should not eat eggplant, banana leaves, sunflower leaves and asmantaka leaves, onions, garlic. One
should not eat sour gruel (a thin watery pouriage) or the juice of the tree. One should also give up turnips and
beetroots, carrots, kinsuka, forest figs, and white pumpkin. If the twice born persons eat these things, they all
become fallen.

(This translation of gr.n~jana seems to be questionable. Capeller dictionary says that it refers to garlic.)

HBV-related quotes:

"According to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the regulative principles of devotional service compiled
by Gopala Bhatta Gosvami do not strictly follow our Vaisnava principles. Actually, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami
collected only a summary of the elaborate descriptions of Vaisnava regulative principles from the Hari-bhakti-
vilasa. It is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami's opinion, however, that to follow the Hari-bhakti-vilasa
strictly is to actually follow the Vaisnava rituals in perfect order. He claims that the smarta-samaja, which is
strictly followed by caste brahmanas, has influenced portions that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami collected from the
original Hari-bhakti-vilasa. It is therefore very difficult to find out Vaisnava directions from the book of Gopala
Bhatta Gosvami. It is better to consult the commentary made by Sanatana Gosvami himself for the Hari-
bhakti-vilasa under the name of Dig-darsini-tika. Some say that the same commentary was compiled by
Gopinatha-puja Adhikari, who was engaged in the service of Sri Radha-ramanaji and who happened to be one
of the disciples of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami." (CC Madhya 1.35p.)

"Sanatana Gosvami wrote his Vaisnava smrti, Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which was specifically meant for India. In
those days, India was more or less following the principle of smarta-vidhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami had to
keep pace with this, and his Hari-bhakti-vilasa was compiled with this in mind." (CC Madhya 23.105)

"This Hari-bhakti-vilasa, also Vaisnava-smrti, that is also imitation of smartaism. It is called smrti. So at least in
Europe and America, they will never be able to take all these things. The things should be made shortcut; at
the same time, they should be successful. So that is chanting of Hare Krsna maha-mantra, depending on..."
(Room Conversation -- July 16, 1973, London)

As we know, Srila Prabhupada was more lenient than his guru and previous acaryas not only in this but also in
other cases.

Manu-samhita:

5.5. Garlic, leeks and onions, mushrooms and (all plants), springing from impure (substances), are unfit to be
eaten by twice-born men.

5.19. A twice-born man who knowingly eats mushrooms, a village-pig, garlic, a village-cock, onions, or leeks,
will become an outcast.

Substitutions

Q: Please let me know as to the proper substitutes for onions, garlic and eggs which we can take as practicing
devotees.

A: (Vijaya-venugopala Das) Instead of onion and garlic, for taste and appearance, cut cabbage in small pieces
like onions. Fry in a shallow pan (kadai), with lots of asafetida (hing). Tastes exactly like onion.

Egg - if you mean in cakes, you could use curds or condensed milk instead. Gives fantastic results. Buy the
eggless cake cookbook, or there are plenty of eggless cake recipes in any ISKCON devotee authored
cookbook.
(Kurma Das, chef) If you slice fresh fennel root into thin strips and fry with asafetida like the cabbage, it is even
more like onion, with an extra lovely anise fragrance.

(Haripuja dd) As an egg substitute for baking, 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt can be used to substitute 1 egg.