Did Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura eat meat?

[Guest guest]

Haribol.

 

I've recently come across a text that suggest that

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura may have eaten meat at some

point in his life.

 

The evidence comes from 'Svalikitha Jivani,' an

autobiographical text written by Srila Bhaktivinoda

Thakura in the form of a letter to his seventh son,

Srila Lalita Prasada Thakura.

 

I suspected that it may be a spurious and/or invented

text, but it seems that this text is rather authentic

and has been used for consultation by Rupa-vilas das,

who wrote the 'Seventh Goswami' bioraphy of Srila

Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

 

Below are the relavant verses:

 

"225. Everyone in Chapra became my friends. The

lawyer, Kesab Babu, always supported my point of view.

The Judge Saheb also was favourable towards me. The

people of Chapra made many kinds of pickle. A certain

type of vinegar pickle was the best. I began to make

it. [Their] mustard oil pickle had a pleasant taste

and I began to make that also. At that time I ate a

lot of fish and meat. I had known that killing animals

was bad for a long time, but I had a strong desire to

enjoy fish and meat."

 

"226. I ate a lot of fish in Chapra, but it was not

very good. Therefore, I ate more goat meat. After the

prolonged eating of food of this kind combined with

red chillies and mustard seed pickle, I developed a

bleeding ulcer. The first [attack] occurred on a full

moon day. Gradually I got pains every new moon and

full moon day. It took 5 to 7 days from the day the

pain started for it to go away. So much suffering!

When the pain [started] I automatically suffered from

vomiting and diarrhea for 10 to 17 hours. At first I

went to the doctor, and a close friend, Manohar Babu,

gave me medical treatment. Thereafter, I tried Moslem

natural medicine. Finally, Mahendra Mama brought some

Ayur Vedic herbs from the jungle and a local Vaidya

made a little medicine."

 

I looked long and hard, and was finally able to find

an online copy of this text at:

 

http://www.raganuga.com/cgi-bin/raga/ikonboard.cgi?s=e0a27f7006aa6efd5de9664095b\

76403;act=ST;f=8;t=375;st=0

 

So if it is true that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura ate

meat, how does this fit in with the perception of a

liberated soul according to Srila Prabhupada's

teachings?

 

Jay

 

 

 

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