becoming a vegetarian

[Guest guest]

namO nArAyaNAya ||

 

>>>> i was trying to talk to a friend, about being a vegetarian,

 

/namastE Shri Vivek.

 

I will give a partial answer to your question. Your friend has raised the

question of the food chain, where one lives on another. So that, if we all do

not eat meat, then there will be an overpopulation of animals.

 

The food chain is part of a cycle. Our /sAstrAs do raise the issue of cycle in

/taittiriya upa/nishat. Under this cycle, for example, /yaJnaS beget rain, rain

begets /annam (food) and /annam begets life and God /brahmaH. The /gItA also

uses the same set of elements to build a cycle. I think I have omitted /pRANaH

(air), but I am not sure where it goes in the cycle. In the /taittiriya

upa/nishat it comes before /annam.

 

Now /annam, to my knowledge cannot be stretched to include non-vegetarain food.

It does include grains and fruits. So spaking of the cycles, the scriptures do

speak of /annam and our need to perform /yaJnAs (sacrificial fires with /hOmam).

 

Secondly, the /tiruk kuRaL is part of our scriptures. The difference is that it

is written in purely ethical and moral persepctives. But it does dedicate about

40 /kuRaLs to God and Worship followed by the need to cultivate rain through

/pUcanai. /pUcanai is /yaJnAs and also /arcanAs etc.

/kuRal is unequivocal in condemning meat-eating. That is right, it condmens it

in no ambiguous terms. It also eulogizes both the life of /gruhast/ASramam

(/illaRam)and /sanyAcam (tuRavaRam) with the scales slighly tipping in favor of

the former.

 

Comenting about overabundance I can say the following. I read several years ago

that it takes seven acres of grass land to fatten a cattle for the purpose of

beef-eating. An ordinary cattle will feed about 40 people for a year. The same

seven acres can feed more than 100 people for a year, if the persons are

vegetarians.

[Guest guest]

Jai Srimannarayna!

As regards, the dilema of Veg or Non-veg, I am sending a english transalation of

question posed by a reader to Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji and his

immitable reply.

 

22Q. Some people are of the opinion that other living beings are meant for

mankind and there is nothing wrong in eating non-vegetarian. Is it so?

 

Ans: Because we have got mouth and power to kill we wrongly presume that other

living beings are for our eating only. On the same analogy somebody may also

eat us. Nobody lives for another. Each living being wants to fulfill its’ life

mission in this world. Depending on the acts of it performs its life may be

fruitful or futile. This is decided by the learned wise men. The animals that

torture other animals are called wild animals and are equivalent to rakhasas.

People rendering help to others are good people. One may say that even tress and

plants are also living things and eating them also can be called “Himsa”. But,

there should be support mechanism for life. The non moving living beings are

food for roaming living beings. The plants derive their life from non-living

things like soil water and air etc., . The trees do not eat other

trees. The sadhu animals live on eating grass and leaves. The animals become

carcasses after death. The right place for it is the burial ground and not your

stomach. If one eats non-veg he becomes a moving burial ground.

 

With Sastnga danda pranamas to Swamiji,

Ramakrishna

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Kannan,

 

While it is possible to discuss the issue of vegetarianism from a purely ethical

and humanitarian standpoint, to do so, even with slight cursory references to

interpretations of Vedic thought, really provides very weak arguements. What is

necessary to understanding vegetarianism is to discuss its relevance to our

spiritual welfare, as is taught to us by our Acharyans.

 

 

The first thing that is necessary to develop this understanding is to give up

the notion that hailing from a SriVaishnava family automatically qualifies one

to call him/herself a SriVaishnava and provides one with the qualifications to

quote randomly from scripture simply to apologetically defend one's way of life.

This is because SriVaishnavam is not a caste, a dogma, or a blind set of rituals

that can be defended or denied to suit our convenience. Rather, it is a

psychological, emotional and spiritual awakening that puts us in touch with who

we are, who God is, our true purposed this world, and eventually leads us to

True Peace and Happiness.

 

 

Such an awakening is a very rare and precious gift, one that can only be the

result of God's Spontaneous and Unconditional Grace. Ours is but to know the

value of this gift and to fully accept it into our hearts and lives. But,

interestingly, even the ability have this knowledge comes from His Grace Alone,

as well, which comes to us in the form of our AchAryas to take guide us on the

correct path. So, when and how we are introduced to our Teacher and when and how

we learn to surrender to Sriman Narayana is really up to Him Alone. But, since

He is Everywhere and since His Love is Unconditional, it stands to reason that

His Love and Grace are there for us always and at any time. The only thing the

only thing standing in our way from connecting with Him is our over-inflated ego

that seeks to serve its own selfish desires. While it is virtually impossible

to vanquish our ego, it is possible to re-direct it towards more healhier

outlooks, in which we seek to serve the greater good of society rather than just

ourselves, and in which we seek to meditate on God's wondrous qualities and fall

in love with Him.

 

 

This mental conditioning is not as hard as it seems, but it does require that

one maintain certain simple disciplines that are conducive to the cultivation of

good qualities, known in Sanskrit as Sattwa guna, and reduce the negative

qualities that lead us to lust, anger, jealousy and hatred. Chapter 18 of Sri

Bhagavad Gita goes into some detail on how what we take in through our senses,

including what we eat, can have an impact on the cultivation of these positive

and negative qualities. Our Acharyas teach us that among the list of foods that

can take us on the downward spiral towards selfish pursuits are non-vegetarian

foods, eggs, alcohol, onions, garlic, and many others.

 

 

So, from this standpoint, the practice of vegetarianism becomes more than just a

issue of compassion or an ethical responsibility, it becomes a key moral

imperative for those individuals striving towards bettering oneself and this

world by serving Sriman Narayana and His Devotees.

 

I hope this helps.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mohan