Meat-eating Rama
In the Valmiki Ramayana, Rama laments to his mom (Kausalya) that he is
going to be exiled from the palace at Ayodhya into the forest for fourteen
years (because of his evil & selfish co-mom Kaikeyi's plot), and he
explains how he will be missing eating meat as he is so accustomed to at the
palace:
"[Rama:] 'I must to lonely wilds repair, abstain from flesh, and living
there on roots, fruit, honey, hermit's food, pass twice seven years (14 yrs.)
in solitude. To Bharat's hand the king will yield the regent power I thought to
wield, and me, a hermit, will he send my days in Dandak wood to spend.' " -- Ramayana 2:20. [Griffith, Ralph T.H. The Ramayan of Valmiki: translated into
English verse. Benares: E.J.
Lazarus & Co., 1895. p.117].
Lord Rama, a great, divine exemplar of dharma & virtue for Hindus, himself
apparently doesn't care much for vegetarianism & ahimsa.
Not only that, but some Brahmins & Ksatriyas ate five-clawed
creatures. Five out of the five-clawed
were allowed, that is. As the
relatively innocent Vali is being murdered from ambush by Rama, he states:
"[Vali:] 'Only five among the five-clawed creatures can be eaten by
brahmans and kshatriyas, Raghava: the hedgehog, the porcupine, the lizard, the
rabbit, and fifth, the turtle.' " -- Ramayana 4:17:34. [Lefeber,
Rosalind. The Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic of Ancient
India. Kiskindhakanda (vol. 4). Pub.:
Princeton University Press. ISBN
0-691-06661-2. p.90].
A very similar injunction is found in the Vaisnava dharmasastra:
"If a man has (unawares) eaten meat of a five-toed animal, with the
exception of the hare, the porcupine, the iguana, the rhinoceros, and the
tortoise, he must fast for seven days." -- Visnusmrti 51:6. [Jolly,
Julius. The Institutes of Vishnu. Sacred Books of the
East (vol. 7). Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1880. p.163].
Who knows, in addition to eating standard meats, perhaps both Rama & Sita
also ate lizards, turtles, hedgehogs and porcupines.