Vegetarianism: Faith in the Unity of Life, By Dharmadhikari

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Vegetarianism: Faith in the Unity of Life, By Dharmadhikari

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Belief in the sanctity of all life

 

Vegetarianism is not a dogma nor a fad. We belong to the fraternity of

believers in the sanctity of all life. Vegetarianism is not a doctrine

but a way of life as well as an outlook on the whole of life. It is

based on an unflinching faith in the unity of life. So a vegetarian will

earnestly strive to interfere with the life of as few creatures as

possible. It is not only an attitude of 'Live and let live', but an

attitude of 'Live to help other creatures live'. I must warn this

gathering against reducing this vegetarian way of life to an ascetic or

a sectarian creed. As soon as a sublime way of life becomes a sectarian

creed, it loses its Social value.

 

Sin religiously

Betrand Russel in one of his books has narrated a story. There were two

islands in the vicinity of each other which were inhabited by the people

who were inimical to each other on religious grounds. The inhabitants on

one of these islands were strict vegetarians, while the people of the

other island believed in non-vegetarianism on principle. So, they both

lived in perpetual mutual hostility. The vegetarians simply cold not

tolerate the proximity of people who believed in meat-eating. So, in a

fit of righteous indignation they made war on the meat-eaters and

subdued them completely. That is to say, they annihilated the whole

wretched lot, with the result that the whole island of meat-eaters was

littered with dead bodies. Now the vegetarians were at a loss to dispose

of those carcasses. So they solemnly decided to eat them. Edgar Snow has

said that we Indians 'sin also religiously'. That is what happens when a

human and sublime way of life degenerates into a denominational creed.

 

Lacto-vegetarians

A great writer has said that there is only one religion though there are

a hundred versions of it. This is true of vegetarianism also. There are

some who will eschew all animal products. In our own country Parushottam

Das Tandon, the great patriarch of the Hindi movement, abjured milk and

its products. Such was also the devout Gandhian leader of Maharashtra,

Appasaheb Patwardhan whose practice never belied his profession, and a

few others who lived and died in obscurity. But on the whole we have

been, what they call, 'lacto-vegetarians' who use milk and milk

products. Then there are others who include eggs and still others who

include fish in a vegetarian diet.

 

No word for 'Satan' or Devil

Though animal-sacrifice is very much in vogue and an over-whelming

majority of our people have been non-vegetarians, a non-vegetarian feast

was never the fashion and on social occasions a non-vegetarian diet was

never prestigious. There are two distinctive features of the Indian way

of life of which we may be pardonably proud. One is that we have never

believed in the existence of evil as a distinct entity. As a matter of

fact, the word 'Satan' or 'Devil' cannot be translated in any indigenous

language. The concept is exotic to our way of thinking. So, we have no

word for it. If God is the creator of all things in the universe how can

he disown the Devil? Who else could have created the Devil? In Indian

thought the existence of the Devil is transitory. Like all other

creatures the Devil also ultimately returns to his Creator. Even the

Devil is not beyond redemption. The Devil repays his debt to his creator

by masquerading in his guise and pays his tribute to his Father by

quoting the scripture. This is the basis of our implicit faith in the

unity of life.

 

Even Demons our Step-brothers

I have alluded to the Indian concept of the fatherhood of God as the

creator even of the Devil. In our mythology our gods and demons are

either stepbrothers or cousins on the mother's side. A grand vision

which claims kinship even with the devil! Even butchers and hangmen are

not devoid of the milk of human kindness. It is this concept which

permeates the vegetarian way of life. This is a faith totally opposed to

the concept of alienation which has proved the bane of all our social

life throughout history.

 

Vegetarianism: rational

Let me state in all humility that vegetarianism is not irrational.

Rationalism is not the same thing as rationality. Rationalism is

sometimes extremely irrational and lands us into logical pedantry. The

reduction is often asked, "Science has now proved beyond the shadow of a

doubt that there is life even in plants. What sense is there then in

objecting to eating flesh?" Could there be a more ludicrous argument?

Could we on that account justify cannibalism? Because we eat vegetables

and cereals, is it reasonable to argue that we could also eat the flesh

of the members of our family? I trust, you will agree that this kind of

argument does not hold water.

 

For Human Survival

Our great Savant and saint, revered Vinoba has been of late stressing

the need for exclding all meat-eating on pragmatic grounds. No animal

which lives on other animals can subsist only on the flesh of

carnivorous animals. These animals have to eat herbivorous animals. This

means an additional strain on our already overstrained agriculture

which, they say, is the basis of all culture. Vegetarianism has thus

become incumbent on practical considerations of human survival.

 

Protagonists of Flesh-less Diet

If we the vegetarians arrogate to ourselves the monopoly of compassion

we should be guilty of unpardonable insolence and bigotry. Flesh-eating

communities have produced individuals like Pythagorous, Plutarch,

Epecurus and groups like the Neoplatonists, who were protagonists of a

fleshless diet. According to the Hebrew Bible, in paradise the earliest

human being as had not eaten flesh. In medieval times Voltaire praised

whereas Shelley, Thoreau and in modern times Shaw, Tolstoy and Switzer

practised vegetarianism.

 

Certain Protestant Christians and the Seventh day Adventists and

Theosophists carried forward the message. 'The Bible Christian sect of

England and U. S. also preached a fleshless diet, and the first 'Society

of vegetarians' was started in England in 1847. So, a modest demeanour

on our part will be more becoming. Jesus himself has regarded the lamb

as the symbol of innocence and what vegetarian can hold the candle to

St. Francis of Assisi? It will, therefore, be blasphemous to adopt an

attitude of lofty contempt for those who are not strict vegetarians.

 

Cruelty to animals

It seems to me, on the other hand, that those who have been vegetarians

by tradition have been, more often than not, callously indifferent to

human suffering and cruelty to animals. Gandhi, the apostle of

non-violence in modern times said that the cow to him was a poem of pity

and yet he did not hesitate to declare that he would not kill a human

being to save a cow, though he would be quite happy to sacrifice his own

life to save a cow. This means that a sense of proportion is necessary.

 

Meat-eating an emblem of Modernity

Humanity is endeavoring to attain a state of affairs when no man shall

kill another man for any reason whatsoever. The immediate step forward

is that man shall regard as sacred the life of as many other creatures

as possible. This is the direction of all cultural progress. But

unfortunately even in India where the number of vegetarians is greater

than the populations of some other countries, meat-eating has become an

emblem of modernity. Modernism like rationalism has become the latest

orthodoxy and we are apt to forget that modernism is not necessarily

modernity and it may well be more regressive than some old customs. It

appears as though we are heading towards becoming omnivorous.

 

Science and Spirituality

Our reverence for life will be an index of our outlook on life. Both

science and spirituality must together help us reach that consummation.

Science without spirituality is reduced to a tissue of purposeless

discoveries, and spirituality without science will lose itself in the

waste of unrealistic speculation. Hence, Vinoba with his characteristic

foresight, declared that the future of mankind depends upon the happy

marriage of science and spirituality.

 

Sufferings of Men and Animals

So, it behooves us who have faith in the unity and sanctity of life to

be as sensitive, if not more, to the sufferings of men as we profess to

be to the sufferings of other animals. Not a few of us are guilty of

ruthless exploitation of human beings. There is the violence of the wolf

and there is the violence of the leech which sucks our blood. There is

nothing to choose between the two. The exploitation of man and

indifference to his sufferings is sometimes defended on the plausible

ground that human beings can take care of themselves since they are

responsible for their good or bad actions. This plea is as specious as

it is diabolical.

Stand for all sufferers

 

Be it our part to stand for all those who suffer; in the words of

Rabindranath, for those who are 'the poorest, lowliest and the lost'.

Let vegetarianism connote something more comprehensive than mere

non-flesh-eating. Let it represent an integrated out look on the whole

of life. Let it be our part stoutly to oppose first the oppression and

exploitation of man by man and at the same time the wanton slaughter of

other animals by man for his food.

 

Share life with fellow creatures

Those who have studied the subject of food and dietetics assure us on

good authority that man can enjoy a healthy and vigorous life without

resorting to non-vegetarian diet. I am told on good authority that the

Latin word 'vegetus' means active or vigorous. So, if we art: in right

earnest about it further research in this direction will enable us to

find vegetarian substitutes for non-vegetarian proteins and fats. Even

as we have been able to find substitutes for leather and furs. Let us

hope and trust that human ingenuity is not bankrupt. It is for unity of

all life. Let us press on 'heart within and God Overhead' in the

direction of translating that faith into actual life. If we start with

that unflinching faith, life on this planet will become a benediction.

Vegetarianism is not for ascetics or for those who want to live an

austere life. It is also for connoisseurs of food and even for

gormandizers. But what makes life more enjoyable is the exciting fact of

sharing it with our fellow creatures.

 

Excerpts from a chapter of Dada Dharmadhikari's book "Philosophy of

Total Revolution", published by Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Rajghat,

Varanasi - 221001, INDIA.

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