THE CAUSE OF VIOLENCE

[Guest guest]

THE CAUSE OF VIOLENCE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At present, despite impressive

progress in science andtechnology, the world is faced with a crisis of

unremittingviolence in the shape of wars, terrorism, murder, vandalism,child

abuse, and abortion. More than 140 wars have beenfought since the United

Nations was formed in 1945, and inAmerica alone, 20,000 people are murdered

each year. Withsocial and political solutions conspicuously failing,perhaps

it's time to analyze the problem from a differentperspective - the law of

karma. The callous and brutalslaughter of countless helpless animals must be

consideredas a powerful causative factor in this wave of uncheckableviolence.In

his purports to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the ancient 5000year old text from India

(which is available from Dial-A-Guru BBS (718) 624-8614 [data]), Srila

Prabhupada, the guruof the Hare Krishna movement, has pointed out how

thewidespread violence among humans is a karmic reaction toanimal slaughter.

"In this age the propensity for mercy isalmost nil. Consequently there is

always fighting and warsbetween men and nations. Men do not understand that

becausethey unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they must also beslaughtered

like animals in big wars. This is very muchevident in the Western countries. In

the West,slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, andtherefore every

fifth or tenth year there is a big war inwhich countless people are slaughtered

even more cruellythan the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep

theirenemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruelways. These are

reactions brought about by unrestrictedanimal-killing in the slaughterhouse and

by hunters in theforest."The question is sometimes raised that if the atma

(soul) iscompletely transcendental to the material body, why shouldkilling, if

great pain is avoided, be considered wrongfulviolence? Even the Bhagavad-gita

states, "For the soul thereis neither birth nor death. He is not slain when the

body isslain." In his Srimad-Bhagavatam purports, Srila Prabhupadaaddresses this

question. "All living entities have tofulfill a certain duration for being

encaged in a particulartype of material body. They have to finish the

durationallotted in a particular body before being promoted orevolved to

another body. Killing an animal or any otherliving being simply places an

impediment in the way of hiscompleting his term of impreisonment in a certain

body. Oneshould therefore not kill bodies for one's sensegratification, for

this will implicate one in sinfulactivity." In short, killing an animal

interrupts itsprogressive evolution through the species.We can also appreciate

the unjustness of animal-killing byseeing that the body is a dwelling place for

the atmaresiding within. An individual unexpectedly driven out ofhis comfortable

home suffers great inconvenience anddistress. Such merciless and unjustified

action isundoubtedly criminal. Furthermore, in order to receive hisnext

material body, the living being must suffer extendedprebirth tribulations. For

the human being this involvesmonths of being tightly packed in the darkness of

the womb,where one is constantly distrubed by infections, acid fluidsburning

the skin, jarring motions, and discomforts resultingfrom the eating and

drinking habits of the mother.