All the Dharma shastras place ban on intoxicating products, similarly all the spiritual discourses/geetas promote satvic food.

Then why is the mohini the avatar of Vishnu depicted to be dancing in intoxication? Lord shiva is also equated with intoxicating products. The smell of many apsaras, gopis and Krishna himself is described as having smell of old wine. The Swarga loka is also mentioned to be abound with soma and madhu.

closed as primarily opinion-based by Swami Vishwananda, Dr. Vineet Aggarwal, Triyugi Narayan Mani, sv., Sarvabhouma Feb 14 '18 at 17:31


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    why are makes the question subject to opinion and should be closed. Edit your question so its not an opinion... – Swami Vishwananda Feb 14 '18 at 10:09
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    Inebriation is a sign of beauty (here inebriation is NOT being referred to illicit drunkards). In Inebriation a person looks languid and carefree which is so attractive, this is why Mohini is said to be looking as if Intoxicated with Pride. Oh How do I explain this beautiful metaphor, it is so beautiful that you get intoxicated of its beauty. – user12826 Feb 14 '18 at 16:33
  • "All the Dharma shastras place ban on intoxicating products" - wrong, see this post. – sv. Feb 14 '18 at 16:53
  • @SwamiVishwananda i changed the question. – Anubhav Jha Feb 14 '18 at 17:40
  • @sv That answer is which is wrong.. Kshatriyas can not drink all the 11 forms of alcoholic drinks.. Madhu etc all come in that list.. and that's why the answer is not directly quoting from any scriptures.. because no scripture allow the act.. Only time when a Dvija is allowed to drink any of the alcoholic drinks is when it's part of a ritual.. – Rickross Feb 15 '18 at 8:40

Due to influence of abrahmics some Hindus have forgotten true spirit of Hinduism.

Hinduism is not a prophetic religion, where we are supposed to follow each and every action of a prophet. This is given beautifully by this shloka

naitat samacarej jatu manasapi hy anisvarah vinasyaty acaran maudhyad yatha 'rudro 'bdhijam visam

isvaranam vacah satyam tathaivacaritam kvacit tesam yat sva-vaco yuktam buddhimams tat samacaret

"One should simply follow the instructions of the Lord and His empowered servants. Their instructions are all good for us, and any intelligent person will perform them as instructed. However, one should guard against trying to imitate their actions. One should not try to drink the ocean of poison in imitation of Lord Siva." (Bhag. 10.33.30)

All scriptures agree that one should follow the instructions given by great personalities and not try to imitate the acts of gods.

Lord Matsya said, "The rajoguna creation emerging in the form of Satarüpä and others is divine. As the Mulaprakruti is beyond the reach of the organs of senses, similarly the damsel Satarüpä's body was beyond the reach of the sense organs. It possesses the divine lustre besides the divine knowledge, therefore, the humans having the bodies of flesh cannot be described with their mortal eyes. 

As the paths of the serpents are known to the serpents and those of the birds are known to the birds alone, similarly the ways of the divine souls like Satarüpä and others could be known to the divine jivas alone and not to humans. O Great king, since the activities of the gods (irrespective of their being) proper or improper, do not yield good or bad fruits, therefore it would not be proper for the humans to think about them.

Lord shiva, Krishna, rama have full control over their senses, they are not bound by senses, supreme Lord always remains pure, just like how fire consumes all kind of products but remains pure. We should not imitate them their instructions are enough, they do not loose control over their senses, we should not place our own twisted morality over supreme Lord.

Mohini or Shiva never lost their senses it was all their "leela"

Now coming back to the question, most of the scriptures of Hinduism are written in kavya or poems, where liquor is equated with beauty, royality, when describing gods the poets in their senses equate many royal- sensual things unto Lord.

Let's take example of ramayana, where rama has said to be riding indra' s thunder instead of horse, sita's face is equated with 1000 full moons, similarly in Uttara kanda rama and Sita are said to drink wine like Indra and sachi are these to be taken at face value?

no, the words should not be used to deduce the eating and drinking habits of the lord as the poet clearly uses multiple meanings throughout ramayana.

Similarly mohini's beauty is also equated with alcohol, but it's not to promote alcohol consumption.

  • 'not try to imitate the acts of gods' - there's a popular saying "listen to Krishna but follow Rama"... – sv. Feb 14 '18 at 16:10
  • I didn't like your question but I liked your answer. – Mr. Sigma. Feb 14 '18 at 16:21
  • @sv. For the ordinary people it is always good to follow instructions given by the great ones which are in accordance with their teaching. It is stupidity to imitate all actions of the great ones, one should follow rama but also follow the teachings of bhagvad geeta which promotes satvic diet. – Anubhav Jha Feb 14 '18 at 16:23
  • Why do you use 'V' in Shiva? – Sarvabhouma Feb 14 '18 at 17:43
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    No, that is not right. I have heard many Vedic Scolars chant the name of Shiva but they don't say Shivva. The transliteration is wrong. Please use proper transliteration in the answers. There are ITRANS, IAST, HK etc, – Sarvabhouma Feb 14 '18 at 17:51

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