TO KILL COW: MEANS TO END HUMAN CIVILIZATION
Hunter And The Sage
Once upon a time the great saint Narada went to Prayaga to bathe at the holy confluence. On the way he saw that a deer was lying in the forest and that it was pierced by an arrow. It had broken legs and was twisting due to much pain. Farther ahead, Narada Muni saw a boar pierced by an arrow. Its legs were also broken, and it was twisting in pain. When he went farther, he saw a rabbit suffering similarly. Narada Muni was greatly pained at heart to see living entities suffer so. When Narada Muni advanced farther, he saw a hunter behind a tree. This hunter was holding arrows, and he was ready to kill more animals. The hunter’s body was blackish. He had reddish eyes, and he appeared fierce. It was as if the superintendent of death, Yamaraja, was standing there with bows and arrows in his hands. When Narada Muni left the forest path and went to the hunter, all the animals immediately saw him and fled. When all the animals fled, the hunter wanted to chastise Narada with abusive language, but due to Narada’s presence, he could not utter anything abusive.
Once upon a time the great saint Narada went to Prayaga to bathe at the holy confluence. On the way he saw that a deer was lying in the forest and that it was pierced by an arrow. It had broken legs and was twisting due to much pain. Farther ahead, Narada Muni saw a boar pierced by an arrow. Its legs were also broken, and it was twisting in pain. When he went farther, he saw a rabbit suffering similarly. Narada Muni was greatly pained at heart to see living entities suffer so. When Narada Muni advanced farther, he saw a hunter behind a tree. This hunter was holding arrows, and he was ready to kill more animals. The hunter’s body was blackish. He had reddish eyes, and he appeared fierce. It was as if the superintendent of death, Yamaraja, was standing there with bows and arrows in his hands. When Narada Muni left the forest path and went to the hunter, all the animals immediately saw him and fled. When all the animals fled, the hunter wanted to chastise Narada with abusive language, but due to Narada’s presence, he could not utter anything abusive.
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"As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought:in their behaviour toward creatures, all men were Nazis" |
The hunter addressed Narada Muni: ‘O gosvami! O great saintly person! Why have you left the general path through the forest to come to me? Simply by seeing you, all the animals I was aiming at have now fled.’ Narada Muni replied, ‘Leaving the path, I have come to you to settle a doubt that is in my mind. I was wondering whether all the boars and other animals that are half-killed belong to you.’ The hunter replied in affirmative. Narada Muni then inquired, ‘Why did you not kill the animals completely? Why did you half-kill them by piercing their bodies with arrows?’
The hunter replied, ‘My dear saintly person, my name is Mrgari, enemy of animals. My father taught me to kill them in that way. ‘When I see half-killed animals suffer, I feel great pleasure.’
The hunter replied, ‘My dear saintly person, my name is Mrgari, enemy of animals. My father taught me to kill them in that way. ‘When I see half-killed animals suffer, I feel great pleasure.’
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When a human kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why should man then expect mercy from God? It's unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give. |
Narada Muni then told the hunter, ‘I have one thing to beg of you.’ The hunter replied, ‘You may take whatever animals or anything else you would like. I have many skins if you would like them. I shall give you either a deerskin or a tiger skin.’
Narada Muni said, ‘I do not want any of the skins. I am only asking one thing from you in charity. ‘I beg you that from this day on you will kill animals completely and not leave them half-dead.’
The hunter replied, ‘My dear sir, what are you asking of me? What is wrong with the animals’ lying there half-killed? Will you please explain this to me?’ Narada Muni replied, ‘If you leave the animals half-dead, you are purposefully giving them pain. Therefore you will have to suffer in retaliation. My dear hunter, your business is killing animals. That is a slight offense on your part, but when you consciously give them unnecessary pain by leaving them half-dead, you incur very great sins. All the animals that you have killed and given unnecessary pain will kill you one after the other in your next life and in life after life.’
Narada Muni said, ‘I do not want any of the skins. I am only asking one thing from you in charity. ‘I beg you that from this day on you will kill animals completely and not leave them half-dead.’
The hunter replied, ‘My dear sir, what are you asking of me? What is wrong with the animals’ lying there half-killed? Will you please explain this to me?’ Narada Muni replied, ‘If you leave the animals half-dead, you are purposefully giving them pain. Therefore you will have to suffer in retaliation. My dear hunter, your business is killing animals. That is a slight offense on your part, but when you consciously give them unnecessary pain by leaving them half-dead, you incur very great sins. All the animals that you have killed and given unnecessary pain will kill you one after the other in your next life and in life after life.’
In this way, through the association of the great sage Narada Muni, the hunter was a little convinced of his sinful activity. He therefore became somewhat afraid due to his offenses. The hunter then admitted that he was convinced of his sinful activity, and he said, ‘I have been taught this business from my very childhood. Now I am wondering how I can become freed from these unlimited volumes of sinful activity. My dear sir, please tell me how I can be relieved from the reactions of my sinful life. Now I fully surrender unto you and fall down at your lotus feet. Please deliver me from sinful reactions.’
Narada Muni assured the hunter, ‘If you listen to my instructions, I shall find the way you can be liberated.’ The hunter then said, ‘My dear sir, whatever you say I shall do.’ Narada immediately ordered him, ‘First of all, break your bow. Then I shall tell you what is to be done.’ The hunter replied, ‘If I break my bow, how shall I maintain myself?’ Narada Muni replied, ‘Do not worry. I shall supply all your food every day.’
Being thus assured by the great sage Narada Muni, the hunter broke his bow, immediately fell down at the saint’s lotus feet and fully surrendered. After this, Narada Muni raised him with his hand and gave him instructions for spiritual advancement.
Narada Muni then advised the hunter, ‘Return home and distribute whatever riches you have to the pure brahmanas who know the Absolute Truth. After thus distributing all your riches, both you and your wife should leave home, taking only one cloth to wear. Leave your home and go to the river. There you should construct a small cottage, and in front of the cottage you should grow a tulasi plant on a raised platform. After planting the tulasi tree before your house, you should daily circumambulate that tulasi plant, serve her by giving her water and other things, and continuously chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. I shall send sufficient food to you both every day. You can take as much food as you want.’
The three animals that were half-killed were then brought to their consciousness by the sage Narada. Indeed, the animals got up and swiftly fled. When the hunter saw the half-killed animals flee, he was certainly struck with wonder. He then offered his respectful obeisances to the sage Narada and returned home.
After all this, Narada Muni went to his destination. The news that the hunter had become a Vaisnava spread all over the village. Indeed, all the villagers brought alms and presented them to the Vaisnava who was formerly a hunter. In one day enough food was brought for ten or twenty people, but the hunter and his wife would accept only as much as they could eat.
One day, while speaking to his friend Parvata Muni, Narada Muni requested him to go with him to see his disciple the hunter. When the saintly sages came to the hunter’s place, the hunter could see them coming from a distance. With great alacrity the hunter began to run toward his spiritual master, but he could not fall down and offer obeisances because ants were running hither and thither around his feet. Seeing the ants, the hunter whisked them away with a piece of cloth. After thus clearing the ants from the ground, he fell down flat to offer his obeisances.
Narada Muni said, ‘My dear hunter, such behavior is not at all astonishing. A man in devotional service is automatically nonviolent. He is the best of gentlemen. O hunter, good qualities like nonviolence, which you have developed, are not very astonishing, for those engaged in the Lord’s devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy.’
Truth About Vedic Sacrifices
Vedic society was a strictly vegetarian society because a vegetarian diet is conducive to higher spiritual realization. Meat eating is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of spiritual progress. Despite farfetched interpretations, no scripture in the world recommends meat eating—although some scriptures may make a concession for individuals who are unable to control their tongue.
In the Vedic system, animal sacrifices are classified into two categories. First category is for testing the efficacy of mantras chanted in a fire sacrifice. Under this system, an old animal is sacrificed and by the power of mantras, it is revived back into a young, healthy animal in a process which is completely painless. This rejuvenation, if carried out successfully, determines the accuracy of the chants and successful completion of the fire sacrifice. Vedas prohibit such animal sacrifices in modern times as it is not possible to revive dead animals anymore due to a lack of qualified priests.
Narada Muni assured the hunter, ‘If you listen to my instructions, I shall find the way you can be liberated.’ The hunter then said, ‘My dear sir, whatever you say I shall do.’ Narada immediately ordered him, ‘First of all, break your bow. Then I shall tell you what is to be done.’ The hunter replied, ‘If I break my bow, how shall I maintain myself?’ Narada Muni replied, ‘Do not worry. I shall supply all your food every day.’
Being thus assured by the great sage Narada Muni, the hunter broke his bow, immediately fell down at the saint’s lotus feet and fully surrendered. After this, Narada Muni raised him with his hand and gave him instructions for spiritual advancement.
Narada Muni then advised the hunter, ‘Return home and distribute whatever riches you have to the pure brahmanas who know the Absolute Truth. After thus distributing all your riches, both you and your wife should leave home, taking only one cloth to wear. Leave your home and go to the river. There you should construct a small cottage, and in front of the cottage you should grow a tulasi plant on a raised platform. After planting the tulasi tree before your house, you should daily circumambulate that tulasi plant, serve her by giving her water and other things, and continuously chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. I shall send sufficient food to you both every day. You can take as much food as you want.’
The three animals that were half-killed were then brought to their consciousness by the sage Narada. Indeed, the animals got up and swiftly fled. When the hunter saw the half-killed animals flee, he was certainly struck with wonder. He then offered his respectful obeisances to the sage Narada and returned home.
After all this, Narada Muni went to his destination. The news that the hunter had become a Vaisnava spread all over the village. Indeed, all the villagers brought alms and presented them to the Vaisnava who was formerly a hunter. In one day enough food was brought for ten or twenty people, but the hunter and his wife would accept only as much as they could eat.
One day, while speaking to his friend Parvata Muni, Narada Muni requested him to go with him to see his disciple the hunter. When the saintly sages came to the hunter’s place, the hunter could see them coming from a distance. With great alacrity the hunter began to run toward his spiritual master, but he could not fall down and offer obeisances because ants were running hither and thither around his feet. Seeing the ants, the hunter whisked them away with a piece of cloth. After thus clearing the ants from the ground, he fell down flat to offer his obeisances.
Narada Muni said, ‘My dear hunter, such behavior is not at all astonishing. A man in devotional service is automatically nonviolent. He is the best of gentlemen. O hunter, good qualities like nonviolence, which you have developed, are not very astonishing, for those engaged in the Lord’s devotional service are never inclined to give pain to others because of envy.’
Truth About Vedic Sacrifices
Vedic society was a strictly vegetarian society because a vegetarian diet is conducive to higher spiritual realization. Meat eating is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of spiritual progress. Despite farfetched interpretations, no scripture in the world recommends meat eating—although some scriptures may make a concession for individuals who are unable to control their tongue.
In the Vedic system, animal sacrifices are classified into two categories. First category is for testing the efficacy of mantras chanted in a fire sacrifice. Under this system, an old animal is sacrificed and by the power of mantras, it is revived back into a young, healthy animal in a process which is completely painless. This rejuvenation, if carried out successfully, determines the accuracy of the chants and successful completion of the fire sacrifice. Vedas prohibit such animal sacrifices in modern times as it is not possible to revive dead animals anymore due to a lack of qualified priests.
The second type of animal sacrifice is a concession for compulsive meat eaters. Lower social classes are enjoined to kill a goat in front of goddess Kali on a dark moon night while chanting mantras which explain the sinful reactions of animal killing. The whole purpose is to contain unrestricted meat eating which is so much prevalent in today’s slaughterhouse culture. Also by such regulation, a meat eater can be brought back to his senses gradually. He can realize the futility of accruing bad karma just for the sake of some meat. This licensing of animal sacrifice by Vedas is like licensing of liquor by the government. The purpose is not to encourage but to regulate and thereby restrict.
Vedic literatures are replete with stories of Kings who were hunting animals regularly. Again the purpose of such hunting was two fold. First was to contain the menace of violent animals. This allowed the sages to meditate and live peacefully in the forest. They lived there to research, write and pray for the benefit of all living beings.
Secondly, it honed the fighting skills of the ruling class. This enabled them to protect innocent citizens from enemies and antisocial elements.
Strictures Against Animal Killing In World’s Religions
Animal Killing And Buddhism
“For the sake of love of purity, let the Bodhisattva refrain from eating flesh, which is born of semen, blood etc. To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating meat... It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order to kill it, when it was not especially meant for him.”
“There may be some people in the future who, being under the influence of taste for meat will string together in various ways sophistic arguments to defend meat eating. But meat-eating in any form, in any manner and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited.”
"Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit and will not permit..." ~Lord Buddha, (Lanka vatara Sutra ) The Lankavatara Sutra, / Daisez Susuki, London: Routiedge 1932
"The reason for practicing dhyana and seeking to attain samadhi is to escape from the suffering of life, but in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves why should we inflict it upon others? Unless you can so control your minds that even the thought of brutal unkindness and killing is abhorred, you will never be able to escape from the bondage of the worldly life...”
“After my paranirvana in the last kalpa different ghosts will be encountered everywhere deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain enlightenment.. How can a bhikshu, who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?" ~Lord Buddha, (Surangama Sutra) A Buddhist Bible, ed. Dwight Godard, New York:Dutton 1952
"All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill." ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 129
"One who, while seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other living beings who also desire happiness, will not find happiness hereafter.” ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 131
"He who has renounced all violence towards all living beings, weak or strong, who neither kills nor causes others to kill - him I do call a holy man." ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 405 (Dhammapada by Ven.Sri Acarya Duddharakkhita, Budha Vacana Trust,Bangalore)
"Anyone familiar with the numerous accounts of the Buddha's extraordinary compassion and reverence for living beings - for example his insistence that his monks strain the water they drink lest they inadvertently cause the death of any micro-organisms.
A true follower could never believe that Buddha would be indifferent to the sufferings of domestic animals caused by their slaughter for food" - A Record of Buddhist Religion, I.Tsing, (Trans. J. Takakusu 1966, pp.30-33)
"The inhabitants are numerous and happy... Throughout the country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor...they do not keep pigs and fowl, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butcher shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink... Only the chandalas (lowest caste) are fisherman and hunters who consume flesh meat." ~Famous 4th century Chinese Buddhist traveller Fa-hsien (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, trans.l. James Legge, NY: Dover 195 p 43)
"I have enforced the laws against killing certain animals and many others. But the greatest progress of Righteousness among men comes from the exhortation in favour of non-injury to life and abstention from killing living things." ~Pillar Edict of King Ashoka (268-233 BC) The Seventh Pillar Edict, in Sources of Indian Tradition, NY: ColumbiaUniv. 'Press 1958.
"The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion" ~Mahaparinirvana (Mahayana Version)
The 13th Century Zen Master Doyen, while visiting China, asked this question: "What must the mental attitude and daily activities of a student be when he is engaged in Buddhist Meditation and practice?" Ju-Ching answered that one of the things he should avoid is eating meat. ~Eihel Dogen, Hokyo-ki:Zen Master, Zen Disciple, Udumbara, A Journal of Zen Master Doyen (1980)
"The salvation of birds and beasts, oneself included - this is the object of Shakyamuni's religious austerities." ~Zen Master Ikkyu
"In China and Japan the eating of meat was looked upon as an evil and was ostracized… The eating of meat gradually ceased (around 517) and then tended to become general. It became a matter of course not to use any kind of meat in the meals of temples and monasteries." ~Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Govt. of Cylon Press (1963)
The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (304 BC - 232 BC) was a vegetarian and a determined promoter of nonviolence to animals. He promulgated detailed laws aimed at the protection of many species, abolished animal sacrifice at his court, and admonished the population to avoid all kinds of unnecessary killing and injury. Ashoka has asserted protection to fauna, which we could understand from his edicts, "Twenty-six years after my coronation various animals were declared to be protected - parrots, mainas, aruna, ruddy geese, wild ducks, nandimukhas, gelatas, bats, queen ants, terrapins, boneless fish, vedareyaka, gangapuputaka, sankiya fish, tortoises, porcupines, squirrels, deer, bulls, okapinda, wild asses, wild pigeons, domestic pigeons and all four-footed creatures that are neither useful nor edible. Those nanny goats, ewes and sows which are with young or giving milk to their young are protected, and so are young ones less than six months old. Cocks are not to be caponized, husks hiding living beings are not to be burnt and forests are not to be burnt either without reason or to kill creatures. One animal is not to be fed to another."-Edicts of Ashoka on Fifth Pillar (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics vol. 2 p. 124-125; Spencer p. 85-86; Tähtinen p. 37, 107, 111.)
"There is just no reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. Man can live without meat." ~The Dalai Lama
Vedic literatures are replete with stories of Kings who were hunting animals regularly. Again the purpose of such hunting was two fold. First was to contain the menace of violent animals. This allowed the sages to meditate and live peacefully in the forest. They lived there to research, write and pray for the benefit of all living beings.
Secondly, it honed the fighting skills of the ruling class. This enabled them to protect innocent citizens from enemies and antisocial elements.
Strictures Against Animal Killing In World’s Religions
Animal Killing And Buddhism
“For the sake of love of purity, let the Bodhisattva refrain from eating flesh, which is born of semen, blood etc. To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating meat... It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order to kill it, when it was not especially meant for him.”
“There may be some people in the future who, being under the influence of taste for meat will string together in various ways sophistic arguments to defend meat eating. But meat-eating in any form, in any manner and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited.”
"Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit and will not permit..." ~Lord Buddha, (Lanka vatara Sutra ) The Lankavatara Sutra, / Daisez Susuki, London: Routiedge 1932
"The reason for practicing dhyana and seeking to attain samadhi is to escape from the suffering of life, but in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves why should we inflict it upon others? Unless you can so control your minds that even the thought of brutal unkindness and killing is abhorred, you will never be able to escape from the bondage of the worldly life...”
“After my paranirvana in the last kalpa different ghosts will be encountered everywhere deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain enlightenment.. How can a bhikshu, who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?" ~Lord Buddha, (Surangama Sutra) A Buddhist Bible, ed. Dwight Godard, New York:Dutton 1952
"All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill." ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 129
"One who, while seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other living beings who also desire happiness, will not find happiness hereafter.” ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 131
"He who has renounced all violence towards all living beings, weak or strong, who neither kills nor causes others to kill - him I do call a holy man." ~Lord Buddha, Dhammapada, 405 (Dhammapada by Ven.Sri Acarya Duddharakkhita, Budha Vacana Trust,Bangalore)
"Anyone familiar with the numerous accounts of the Buddha's extraordinary compassion and reverence for living beings - for example his insistence that his monks strain the water they drink lest they inadvertently cause the death of any micro-organisms.
A true follower could never believe that Buddha would be indifferent to the sufferings of domestic animals caused by their slaughter for food" - A Record of Buddhist Religion, I.Tsing, (Trans. J. Takakusu 1966, pp.30-33)
"The inhabitants are numerous and happy... Throughout the country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor...they do not keep pigs and fowl, and do not sell live cattle; in the markets there are no butcher shops and no dealers in intoxicating drink... Only the chandalas (lowest caste) are fisherman and hunters who consume flesh meat." ~Famous 4th century Chinese Buddhist traveller Fa-hsien (A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, trans.l. James Legge, NY: Dover 195 p 43)
"I have enforced the laws against killing certain animals and many others. But the greatest progress of Righteousness among men comes from the exhortation in favour of non-injury to life and abstention from killing living things." ~Pillar Edict of King Ashoka (268-233 BC) The Seventh Pillar Edict, in Sources of Indian Tradition, NY: ColumbiaUniv. 'Press 1958.
"The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion" ~Mahaparinirvana (Mahayana Version)
The 13th Century Zen Master Doyen, while visiting China, asked this question: "What must the mental attitude and daily activities of a student be when he is engaged in Buddhist Meditation and practice?" Ju-Ching answered that one of the things he should avoid is eating meat. ~Eihel Dogen, Hokyo-ki:Zen Master, Zen Disciple, Udumbara, A Journal of Zen Master Doyen (1980)
"The salvation of birds and beasts, oneself included - this is the object of Shakyamuni's religious austerities." ~Zen Master Ikkyu
"In China and Japan the eating of meat was looked upon as an evil and was ostracized… The eating of meat gradually ceased (around 517) and then tended to become general. It became a matter of course not to use any kind of meat in the meals of temples and monasteries." ~Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Govt. of Cylon Press (1963)
The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (304 BC - 232 BC) was a vegetarian and a determined promoter of nonviolence to animals. He promulgated detailed laws aimed at the protection of many species, abolished animal sacrifice at his court, and admonished the population to avoid all kinds of unnecessary killing and injury. Ashoka has asserted protection to fauna, which we could understand from his edicts, "Twenty-six years after my coronation various animals were declared to be protected - parrots, mainas, aruna, ruddy geese, wild ducks, nandimukhas, gelatas, bats, queen ants, terrapins, boneless fish, vedareyaka, gangapuputaka, sankiya fish, tortoises, porcupines, squirrels, deer, bulls, okapinda, wild asses, wild pigeons, domestic pigeons and all four-footed creatures that are neither useful nor edible. Those nanny goats, ewes and sows which are with young or giving milk to their young are protected, and so are young ones less than six months old. Cocks are not to be caponized, husks hiding living beings are not to be burnt and forests are not to be burnt either without reason or to kill creatures. One animal is not to be fed to another."-Edicts of Ashoka on Fifth Pillar (Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics vol. 2 p. 124-125; Spencer p. 85-86; Tähtinen p. 37, 107, 111.)
"There is just no reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. Man can live without meat." ~The Dalai Lama
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When there was too much animal killing, the incarnation of Lord Buddha was there to stop animal killing. In Buddhism there is no animal killing. Although they are now killing animals, but originally Buddha religion means non-violence. Also Lord Christ also said, "Thou shalt not kill." And Krsna says, ahimsa. So in no religion unnecessary killing of animals is allowed. Even in Mohammedans, they are also... Kurvani. Kurvani means they can kill animals in the Mosque. So everywhere animal killing is restricted. |
Animal Killing And Islam
“…but to hunt…is forbidden you, so long as ye are on the pilgrimage. Be mindful of your duty to Allah, unto Whom you will all be gathered.” ~Koran, surah 5, verse 96 ((In Mecca, the birthplace of Mohammed, no creature can be slaughtered and that perfect harmony should exist between all living beings. Muslim pilgrims approach Mecca wearing a shroud (‘ihram’). From the moment they wear this religious cloth, absolutely no killing is allowed. Mosquitos, lice, grasshoppers, and other living creatures must also be protected. If a pilgrim sees an insect on the ground, he will motion to stop his comrades from accidentally stepping on it.)
“There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are all peoples like unto you.” ~Koran, (surah 6, verse 38)
“God assigned the earth to all living creatures” ~Koran (Majeed 55:10-12)
“It behooves you to treat the animals gently.” ~Koran (Majeed 4:118-19, 5:103)
“All creatures are like a family of God; and He loves the most those who are the most beneficent to His family.” ~Hadith Mishkat 3:1392
“Therewith He causes crops to grow for you, and the olive and the date-palm and grapes and all kinds of fruit. Lo! Herein is indeed a portent for people who reflect.” ~Koran, surah 16, verse 11
“A token unto them is the dead earth. We revive it, and We bring forth from it grain—so that they will eat thereof. And We have placed therein gardens of the date-palm and grapes, and We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein. That they may not eat of the fruit thereof and their hands created it not. Will they not, then, give thanks?”~Koran, surah 36, verses 33-35
“Their flesh will never reach Allah, nor yet their blood - but your devotion and piety will reach Him.”~Koran (22:37)
“Eating the meat of a cow causes disease (marz), its milk is health (safa) and its clarified butter (ghee) is medicine (dava).” ~Ihya Ulum ul-Din, Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111)
“Neither eat the sea creatures for this is cruel. Nor seek nor desire thy food from the painful slaughtering of animals.” ~Abu l’Ala
“Maim not the brute beasts” ~Prophet Mohammed
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Thus it is out of compassion that the Lord appears in His different forms. Lord Sri Krsna appeared on this planet out of compassion for fallen souls; Lord Buddha appeared out of compassion for the poor animals who were being killed by the demons; Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared out of compassion for Prahlada Maharaja. The conclusion is that the Lord is so compassionate upon the fallen souls within this material world that He comes Himself or sends His devotees and His servants to fulfill His desire to have all the fallen souls come back home, back to Godhead. |
Judaism And Christianity
"Thou shall not kill"
~Sixth Commandment, (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17)
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so." ~Genesis 1:29-30
"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither hunt nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.~Isaiah 65:25
God said "What I want is mercy, not sacrifice."~Hosea 6:6
"But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it." ~Genesis 9.4-5
"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of goats. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood." ~Isaiah 1.11,15
"It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood. ~Leviticus 3.17
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of strangers who sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set My face against that soul that eateth blood." ~Leviticus 17.10
"He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man." ~Isaiah 66.3
“God giveth the grains and the fruits of the earth for food: and for righteous man truly there is no other lawful sustenance for the body."
~Jesus, The Gospel of the Holy Twelve
Jesus Ate Meat, Why Shouldn't we?
Another common objection to vegetarianism is, "Jesus Christ ate meat, so why shouldn't we?" But vegetarian Christians point out that the ancient Greek, from which the New Testament was translated, does not support the contention that Christ ate meat. For example, Greek words like brosimos, prosphagion, and trophe, all of which mean simply "food, or "nourishment," were loosely translated as "meat” (except in the New English Bible). And, vegetarian Christians assert, where the Bible states that Christ was offered fish and a honeycomb and accepted ‘it’ (singular), it means the honeycomb. In the Old Testament a verse predicts this of the youthful Christ: "He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good." (Isaiah 7:15) The purport would seem to be that to behave otherwise would lead to a brutish mentality, which cannot be accepted in the character of Christ.
In many more places the word ‘meat’ has been wrongly inserted. For example, in John (4.8) it states: "For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat." The word meat was taken from the Greek word trophe, which actually means nourishment. This is exactly the same case in Acts (9.19): "And when he had received meat, he was strengthened." When translated accurately it means that by receiving nourishment, he felt stronger.
In Luke (8.55) we find, "And her spirit came again and she arose straightaway: and he (Jesus) commanded to give her meat." The word meat in this case was translated from the Greek word phago, which translated correctly simply means to eat.
In I Corinthians (8.8) it states: "But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means food. Therefore, this verse signifies that eating or not eating food has little to do with our relationship to God and not, as some people think, that eating meat holds no wrong.
In Romans (14.20-21) the verses are: "For meat destroy not the word of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means foods, and the word for flesh is kreas, which does mean flesh. Therefore, this verse makes it clear that flesh eating is unacceptable.
If the Bible explains that eating meat is wrong, then what is the proper thing to eat? Genesis (1.29) clearly states: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." This makes it quite obvious that the food for human beings is herbs, seeds, grains, and fruits.
We also find in Isaiah (7.14-15): "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." The first verse is often quoted by Christians for proof that Jesus was the savior, but the next verse shows that he will be a vegetarian to know the difference between right and wrong.
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“Lord Christ says ‘Thou shalt not kill’; why you are killing?” They give evidence that “Christ also ate meat sometimes.” Sometimes Christ ate meat, that’s all right, but did Christ say that “You maintain big, big slaughterhouse and go on eating meat?” There is no common sense even. Christ might have eaten. Sometimes he... If there was no, nothing available for eating, what could you do? That is another question. In great necessity, when there is no other food except taking meat... That time is coming. In this age, Kali-yuga, gradually food grains will be reduced. It is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Twelfth Canto. No rice, no wheat, no milk, no sugar will be available. One has to eat meat. This will be the condition. And maybe to eat the human flesh also. This sinful life is degrading so much so that they will become more and more sinful. |
Christianity And Animal Killing - A Conversation
The following conversation between His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Cardinal Jean Danielou took place in Paris on August 9, 1973.
Srila Prabhupada: Jesus Christ said, "Thou shall not kill." So why is it that the Christian people are engaged in animal killing?
Cardinal Danielou: Certainly in Christianity it is forbidden to kill, but we believe that there is a difference between the life of a human being and the life of the beasts. The life of a human being is sacred because man is made in the image of God; therefore, to kill a human being is forbidden.
Srila Prabhupada: But the Bible does not simply say, "Do not kill the human being." It says broadly, "Thou shall not kill."
Cardinal Danielou: We believe that only human life is sacred.
Srila Prabhupada: That is your interpretation. The commandment is "Thou shalt not kill."
Cardinal Danielou: It is necessary for man to kill animals in order to have food to eat.
Srila Prabhupada: No. Man can eat grains, vegetables, fruits, and milk.
Cardinal Danielou: No flesh?
Srila Prabhupada: No. Human beings are meant to eat vegetarian food. The tiger does not come to eat your fruits. His prescribed food is animal flesh. But man's food is vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk products. So how can you say that animal killing is not a sin?
Cardinal Danielou: We believe it is a question of motivation. If the killing of an animal is for giving food to the hungry, then it is justified.
Srila Prabhupada: But consider the cow: we drink her milk; therefore, she is our mother. Do you agree?
Cardinal Danielou: Yes, surely.
Srila Prabhupada: So if the cow is your mother, how can you support killing her? You take the milk from her, and when she's old and cannot give you milk, you cut her throat. Is that a very humane proposal? In India those who are meat eaters are advised to kill some lower animals like goats, pigs, or even buffalo. But cow killing is the greatest sin. In preaching Krishna consciousness we ask people not to eat any kind of meat, and my disciples strictly follow this principle. But if, under certain circumstances, others are obliged to eat meat, then they should eat the flesh of some lower animal. Don't kill cows. It is the greatest sin. And as long as a man is sinful, he cannot understand God. The human being's main business is to understand God and to love Him. But if you remain sinful, you will never be able to understand God --what to speak of loving Him.
Cardinal Danielou: I think that perhaps this is not an essential point. The important thing is to love God. The practical commandments can vary from one religion to the next.
Srila Prabhupada: So, in the Bible God's practical commandment is that you cannot kill; therefore killing cows is a sin for you.
Cardinal Danielou: God says to the Indians that killing is not good, and he says to the Jews that...
Srila Prabhupada: No, no. Jesus Christ taught, "Thou shall not kill." Why do you interpret this to suit your own convenience?
Cardinal Danielou: But Jesus allowed the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.
Srila Prabhupada: But he never maintained a slaughterhouse. Cardinal Danielou: (laughs) No, but he did eat meat.
Srila Prabhupada: When there is no other food, someone may eat meat in order to keep from starving. That is another thing. But it is most sinful to regularly maintain slaughterhouses just to satisfy your tongue. Actually, you will not even have a human society until this cruel practice of maintaining slaughterhouses is stopped. And although animal killing may sometimes be necessary for survival, at least the mother animal, the cow, should not be killed. That is simply human decency. In the Krsna consciousness movement our practice is that we don't allow the killing of any animals. Krsna says, patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati: "Vegetables, fruits, milk, and grains should be offered to Me in devotion" [Bhagavadgita 9.16]. We take only the remnants of Krsna's food (prasada). The trees offer us many varieties of fruits, but the trees are not killed. Of course, one living entity is food for another living entity, but that does not mean you can kill your mother for food. Cows are innocent; they give us milk. You take their milk -- and then kill them in the slaughterhouse. This is sinful.
Student: Srila Prabhupada, Christianity's sanction of meat eating is based on the view that lower species of life do not have a soul like the human being's.
Srila Prabhupada: That is foolishness. First of all, we have to understand the evidence of the soul's presence within the body. Then we can see whether the human being has a soul and the cow does not. What are the different characteristics of the cow and the man? If we find a difference in characteristics, then we can say that in the animal there is no soul. But if we see that the animal and the human being have the same characteristics, then how can you say that the animal has no soul? The general symptoms are that the animal eats, you eat; the animal sleeps, you sleep; the animal mates, you mate; the animal defends, and you defend. Where is the difference?
Cardinal Danielou: We admit that in the animal there may be the same type of biological existence as in men, but there is no soul. We believe that the soul is a human soul.
Srila Prabhupada: Our Bhagavad-gita says sarva-yonisu, "In all species of life the soul exists." The body is like a suit of clothes. You have black clothes; I am dressed in saffron clothes. But within the dress you are a human being, and I am also a human being. Similarly, the bodies of the different species are just like different types of dress. There are 8,400,000 species, or dresses, but within each one is a spirit soul, a part and parcel of God. Suppose a man has two sons, not equally meritorious. One may be a Supreme Court judge and the other may be a common laborer, but the father claims both as his sons. He does not make the distinction that the son who is a judge is very important, and the worker son is not important. And if the judge son says, "My dear father, your other son is useless; let me cut him up and eat him," will the father allow this?
Cardinal Danielou: We admit that in the animal there may be the same type of biological existence as in men, but there is no soul. We believe that the soul is a human soul.
Srila Prabhupada: Our Bhagavad-gita says sarva-yonisu, "In all species of life the soul exists." The body is like a suit of clothes. You have black clothes; I am dressed in saffron clothes. But within the dress you are a human being, and I am also a human being. Similarly, the bodies of the different species are just like different types of dress. There are 8,400,000 species, or dresses, but within each one is a spirit soul, a part and parcel of God. Suppose a man has two sons, not equally meritorious. One may be a Supreme Court judge and the other may be a common laborer, but the father claims both as his sons. He does not make the distinction that the son who is a judge is very important, and the worker son is not important. And if the judge son says, "My dear father, your other son is useless; let me cut him up and eat him," will the father allow this?
“We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the devil in human form.”
-William Ralph Inge.
Cardinal Danielou: Certainly not, but the idea that all life is part of the life of God is difficult for us to admit. There is a great difference between human life and animal life.
Srila Prabhupada: That difference is due to the development of consciousness. In the human body there is developed consciousness. Even a tree has a soul, but a tree's consciousness is not very developed. If you cut a tree it does not resist. Actually, it does resist, but only to a very small degree. There is a scientist named Jagadish Chandra Bose who has made a machine which shows that trees and plants are able to feel pain when they are cut. And we can see directly that when someone comes to kill an animal, it resists, it cries, it makes a horrible sound. So it is a matter of the development of consciousness. But the soul is there within all living beings.
Cardinal Danielou: But metaphysically, the life of man is sacred. Human beings think on a higher platform than the animals do.
Srila Prabhupada: What is that higher platform? The animal eats to maintain his body, and you also eat in order to maintain your body. The cow eats grass in the field, and the human being eats meat from a huge slaughterhouse full of modern machines. But just because you have big machines and a ghastly scene, while the animal simply eats grass, this does not mean that you are so advanced that only within your body is there a soul, and that there is not a soul within the body of the animal. That is illogical. We can see that the basic characteristics are the same in the animal and the human being.
Cardinal Danielou: But only in human beings do we find a metaphysical search for the meaning of life.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. So metaphysically search out why you believe that there is no soul within the animal -- that is metaphysics. If you are thinking metaphysically, that's all right. But if you are thinking like an animal, then what is the use of your metaphysical study? "Metaphysical" means "above the physical" or, in other words, "spiritual." In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, sarva-yonisu kaunteya: "In every living being there is a spirit soul." That is metaphysical understanding. Now either you accept Krsna's teachings as metaphysical, or you'll have to take a third-class fool's opinion as metaphysical. Which do you accept?
Cardinal Danielou: But why does God create some animals who eat other animals? There is a fault in the creation, it seems.
Srila Prabhupada: It is not a fault. God is very kind. If you want to eat animals, then He'll give you full facility. God will give you the body of a tiger in your next life so that you can eat flesh very freely. "Why are you maintaining slaughterhouses? I'll give you fangs and claws. Now eat." So the meat eaters are awaiting such punishment. The animal eaters become tigers, wolves, cats, and dogs in their next life -- to get more facility.
(Copyrights BBT International)
Srila Prabhupada: That difference is due to the development of consciousness. In the human body there is developed consciousness. Even a tree has a soul, but a tree's consciousness is not very developed. If you cut a tree it does not resist. Actually, it does resist, but only to a very small degree. There is a scientist named Jagadish Chandra Bose who has made a machine which shows that trees and plants are able to feel pain when they are cut. And we can see directly that when someone comes to kill an animal, it resists, it cries, it makes a horrible sound. So it is a matter of the development of consciousness. But the soul is there within all living beings.
Cardinal Danielou: But metaphysically, the life of man is sacred. Human beings think on a higher platform than the animals do.
Srila Prabhupada: What is that higher platform? The animal eats to maintain his body, and you also eat in order to maintain your body. The cow eats grass in the field, and the human being eats meat from a huge slaughterhouse full of modern machines. But just because you have big machines and a ghastly scene, while the animal simply eats grass, this does not mean that you are so advanced that only within your body is there a soul, and that there is not a soul within the body of the animal. That is illogical. We can see that the basic characteristics are the same in the animal and the human being.
Cardinal Danielou: But only in human beings do we find a metaphysical search for the meaning of life.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. So metaphysically search out why you believe that there is no soul within the animal -- that is metaphysics. If you are thinking metaphysically, that's all right. But if you are thinking like an animal, then what is the use of your metaphysical study? "Metaphysical" means "above the physical" or, in other words, "spiritual." In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, sarva-yonisu kaunteya: "In every living being there is a spirit soul." That is metaphysical understanding. Now either you accept Krsna's teachings as metaphysical, or you'll have to take a third-class fool's opinion as metaphysical. Which do you accept?
Cardinal Danielou: But why does God create some animals who eat other animals? There is a fault in the creation, it seems.
Srila Prabhupada: It is not a fault. God is very kind. If you want to eat animals, then He'll give you full facility. God will give you the body of a tiger in your next life so that you can eat flesh very freely. "Why are you maintaining slaughterhouses? I'll give you fangs and claws. Now eat." So the meat eaters are awaiting such punishment. The animal eaters become tigers, wolves, cats, and dogs in their next life -- to get more facility.
(Copyrights BBT International)
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So this is nature's law. You don't require to be sent to the slaughterhouse. You'll make your slaughterhouse at home. You'll kill your own child. Abortion. This is nature's law. ....If you kill, you must be killed. |
Humanity Turning Into Walking Graves
Meat eating is similar to consigning a corpse to an earthly grave. Both entail burying a dead body, in the belly in the first case and in the ground in the other. Only difference is that one grave is stationary and the other is mobile.
George Bernard Shaw rightly puts this in his famous poem:
We are the living graves of murdered beasts,
Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites.
We never pause to wonder at our feasts,
If animals like men could possibly have rights.
We pray on Sunday that we may have light,
To guide our footsteps on the paths we tread.
We are sick of war, we do not want to fight,
The thought of it now fills our hearts with dread,
And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead.
Like carrion crows we live and feed on meat,
Regardless of the suffering and pain
We cause by doing so.
If thus we treat
Defenseless animals for sport or gain,
How can we hope in this world to attain
The Peace we say we are anxious for?
Thus cruelty begets its offspring—War.
There is an alarming rise in global meat consumption. As per Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) statistical database, since 1960 global meat consumption has more than trebled. This is attributed partly to the increase in affluence in many countries. A joint IFPRI/FAO/ILRI study suggested that global production and consumption of meat will continue to rise, from 233 million metric tons (Mt) in the year 2000 to 300 million Mt in 2020.
The consumption of poultry meat has increased from 9 million Mt in 1960, to 15 in 1970, 26 in 1980, 41 in 1990 and 68 million Mt in 2000, thereby overtaking the production of beef (60 million Mt in 2000). Consumption of meat in the U.S. is 124 kg/capita/year, compared to the global average of 38 kg. The countries that consume the least amount of meat are in Africa and South Asia.
But What About Killing Plants?
One of the strongest objections animal killers raise against vegetarianism is that vegetarians still have to kill plants, and that this is also violence. But there is no logic in equating fully sentient animals like cows with lowly vegetables. Certainly, plants are as alive as cows; modern experiments prove that plants have feelings, and the Bhagavadgita, the essence of all Vedic teachings, confirms that all life forms contain spirit souls qualitatively equal to one another.
Still all killings are not the same. Going by the argument, killing the person so arguing and killing a potato should be the same but he would not agree to that. Besides most of the time the plants are not killed. At the time of harvesting, the rice or wheat stalks turn yellow and are already dead. When plucking an apple or tomato, the plant is not killed. Whatever violence exists in vegetarian diet, it is minimal because plants have been put by nature in a kind of anaesthesia. That is why chopping a potato and killing a cow creates very different scenes. Potato does not scream, writhe or tries to flee away. Is it the same thing to operate a person who is fully conscious and a person with anaesthesia?
We have to eat something, and the Vedas also say, jivo jivasya jivanam: one living entity is food for another. So from a humane standpoint, the problem in choosing a diet is not how to avoid killing altogether—an impossible proposal—but how to cause the least suffering while meeting the nutritional needs of the body. A well-balanced diet of fruits, grains, vegetables, and milk products meets these criteria, and this diet is recommended in such scriptures as the Bhagavad-gita as most truly human.
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Formerly if somebody is attacked by another man, many persons will come to help him: "Why this man is attacked?" But at the present moment if one man is attacked, the passersby will not care for it because they have lost their sympathy or mercifulness for others. Our neighbor may starve, but we don't care for it. But formerly the sympathy for other living entities, even for an ant... Just like Maharaja Pariksit, while he was touring on his kingdom, he saw that one man was trying to kill a cow. Pariksit Maharaja saw. Immediately he took his sword that "Who are you? You are killing a cow in my kingdom?" Because the king is supposed, or the government is supposed to give everyone protection, not that the government is meant for giving protection to the human being and not to the animals. Because it is Kali-yuga, the government discriminates between two nationals. National means one who has taken birth in the land. That is called national. That is... You know, everyone. So the trees, they are also born in the land, the aquatics also born in the land. The flies, the reptiles, the snakes, the birds, the beasts, human beings -- everyone is born in that land. Suppose your land, America, United States... Why the government should give protection to one class of living entities, rejecting others? This means they have lost their sympathy for others. |