Jahnava Nitai Das Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 We experience discomfort (in the form of hunger) and so we kill plants to relieve that discomfort. So according to you, vegetarianism is also wrong, eh? The Bhagavad Gita states that any food eaten without first offering it as a sacrifice to God is a sin. This includes vegetarian food. Eating plants involves killing, and thus is sinful unless it is first offered as sacrifice to God to remove the sinful reactions: yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ bhuñjate te tv aghaḿ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt "The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahnava Nitai Das Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Srila Prabhupada's view on this matter: "If you actually love God, then your love for insects is also there, because you understand, 'This insect has got a different kind of body, but he is also part and parcel of God—he is my brother.' Samah sarveshu bhuteshu: you look upon all living beings equally." "Other people are always envious, but the sädhu is always thinking how to save others from the clutches of mäyä. A sädhu is kind not only to human beings but to cats, dogs, trees, plants and insects; he will hesitate even to kill one mosquito. He does not simply think, "I shall just take care of my brother." He looks on all living beings as his brothers because Krishna says that He is the father of all living entities." "A devotee is friend to everyone. He does not want to kill even an ant or a mosquito." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhakta Don Muntean Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 They are so little. ... Bugs are not envious of full of anger toward you when they attack. They are just mining your body. They are no different toward us as we are to the Earth Planet. So there is no trouble for you in not killing them. The trouble is actions of anger, and those who get angry at bugs enough to kill them have serious problems. Cirecumstance changes things though. While driving down a mountain road with a full truck in a rainstorm, If a hornet lands on your chest and takes a big chunk of your body, It may be prudent to wipe him out, but not in anger, just as a way to keep you from barrelling into the gully. Haribol, ys, mahaksadasa Good point about 'anger' - that - taken with the question of 'ego' shall be the defining point in this. Once back in 1997 we had this common house fly in our apt - he was alone and he was always flying around trying to pester us - he was trying to play - anyway - he was a clever and a neat fly - he survived for almost a month [on a small bowl of sugar water] and then one morning i was angry and he kept flying around me and because i was angry and it was an annoyance i grabbed the newspaper and well the rest is a sad story. I felt very nasty and low right after i did that and - as a result - i learnt a great deal [most importantly about myself] in that experiance. How often do people 'off' bugs in anger because of a simple annoyance? Often with the sense of subtle 'ego' and having a sense of power over that creature - to terminate it - without doubt there are even some places in our world where people 'off' hapless people - in the exact same egoistic and angry manner - as most others do to simple little bugs. Some people really are 'death personified' for these little creatures! I had another neat experience some years later - in the workplace - often few flies would get into the office and rather than catch them and let them go - my co-workers would hunt them [as people tend to do with flies] and as time went on i would 'protect' the flies [try to catch some of them for release] and it didn't take long for them to figure out if they were being chased - to fly over to my desk - as they would not be terminated there. It really got the attention of my co-workers! Yes there are times that we may have to do the needfull and remove various pests and rodents - but - we should never do it in anger. Also as noted in this thread - when doing this - we have to see to it in each time and circumstance the why and how is in proper perspective. One should treat animals such as deer, camels, asses, monkeys, mice, snakes, birds and flies exactly like one’s own son. How little difference there actually is between children and these innocent animals. [sB 7.19.9] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolo_hare_krsna Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 According to the Gita, every single action we perform leads us to bondage (yajnarthat kamano 'nyatra...). Krishna goes as far as saying anyone who simply cooks food for himself is eating verily only sin, and will suffer in future lives. You cannot escape the karmic reactions, and resultant suffering, simply because something is convenient for yourself and makes your material life more enjoyable. Acting on Krishna's direct order for the purpose of protecting dharma is quite different than acting for your own sense gratification (or for your own avoidance of discomfort). well put ! hare krsna its one of those "for every action (not done in krsna consciousness) there is an equal (or lesser or greater ) and opposite reaction" type things.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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