Three hand law

[Guest guest]

Dear Shashank ji,

 

I read your query whether there is any other similar referece for

the three hand law of Buddhism which I had given with respect to

Rajkumar ji's question.I do not like quoting references unless it is

absolutely essential because it makes a human think in terms of what

is 'in the book' than what is 'in the heart'.But since you have

asked for it, I qoute nevertheless.

 

 

 

Even the Vedic religion had that

 

I quote a reference here from Mahabharatha.

 

 

The " Mahabharata " states: " The purchaser of flesh performs himsa by

his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the

killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus,

there are three forms of killing. He who brings flesh or sends for

it, he who cuts of the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases,

sells, or cooks flesh and eats it-all of these are to be considered

meat-eaters. " ( " Mahabharata, " 115:40)

 

Further, the " Mahabharata " (18.113.8) says: " One should never do

that to another which one regards as injurious to one's own self.

This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting

differently, one becomes guilty of adharma. "

 

Atharva Veda Samhita 6.120.1. VE, 636

You must not use your God-given body for killing God's creatures,

whether they are human, animal or whatever.

Yajur Veda Samhita 12.32. FS, 90

 

May all beings look at me with a friendly eye. May I do likewise,

and may we all look on each other with the eyes of a friend.

Yajur Veda 36.18.

 

Nonviolence is all the offerings. Renunciation is the priestly

honorarium. The final purification is death. Thus all the Divinities

are established in this body.

Krishna Yajur Veda, Prana Upanishad 46-8. VE, 413-14

 

To the heavens be peace, to the sky and the earth; to the waters be

peace, to plants and all trees; to the Gods be peace, to Brahman be

peace, to all men be peace, again and again-peace also to me! O

earthen vessel, strengthen me. May all beings regard me with

friendly eyes! May I look upon all creatures with friendly eyes!

With a friend's eye may we regard each other!

Shukla Yajur Veda Samhita 36.17-18. VE, 306; 342

 

No pain should be caused to any created being or thing.

Devikalottara agama, JAV 69-79. RM, 116

 

The Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita, Epic History

The very name of the cows is aghnya, indicating that they should

never be slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely, one who

kills a cow or a bull commits the most heinous crime.

Mahabharata, Shantiparva 262.47. FS,pg. 94

 

The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by his wealth; he

who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa

by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three

forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts

off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks

flesh and eats it -all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.

Mahabharata, Anu. 115.40. FS, pg 90

 

He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other

creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth.

Mahabharata, Anu. 115.47. FS, pg. 90

 

One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious

to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding

to desire and acting differently, one becomes guilty of adharma.

Mahabharata 18.113.8.

 

Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs,

long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory

should abstain from acts of injury.

Mahabharata 18.115.8.

 

Ahimsa is the highest dharma. Ahimsa is the best tapas. Ahimsa is

the greatest gift. Ahimsa is the highest self-control. Ahimsa is the

highest sacrifice. Ahimsa is the highest power. Ahimsa is the

highest friend. Ahimsa is the highest truth. Ahimsa is the highest

teaching.

Mahabharata 18.116.37-41.

 

He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is-

immortal in the field of mortality-he sees the truth. And when a man

sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he

hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the

highest path.

Bhagavad Gita 13. 27-28. BgM, pg. 101

 

Nonviolence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, serenity,

aversion to fault-finding, sympathy for all beings, peace from

greedy cravings, gentleness, modesty, steadiness, energy,

forgiveness, fortitude, purity, a good will, freedom from pride-

these belong to a man who is born for heaven.

Bhagavad Gita 16.2-3. BGM, pg. 109

 

Tirumantiram and other Scriptures

Many are the lovely flowers of worship offered to the Guru, but none

lovelier than non-killing. Respect for life is the highest worship,

the bright lamp, the sweet garland and unwavering devotion.

Tirumantiram 197

 

SPIRITUAL MERIT and sin are our own making. The killer of other

lives is an outcast. Match your words with your conduct. Steal not,

kill not, indulge not in self-praise, condemn not others to their

face.

Lingayat Vachanas

 

AHIMSA IS NOT CAUSING pain to any living being at any time through

the actions of one's mind, speech or body. Sandilya UpanishadWhen

mindstuff is firmly based in waves of ahimsa, all living beings

cease their enmity in the presence of such a person.

Yoga Sutras 2.35. YP, pg. 205

 

Those who are ignorant of real dharma and, though wicked and

haughty, account themselves virtuous, kill animals without any

feeling of remorse or fear of punishment. Further, in their next

lives, such sinful persons will be eaten by the same creatures they

have killed in this world.

Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.4. FS, pg, 90

 

The Tirukural, Preeminent Ethical Scripture

Perhaps nowhere is the principle of nonmeat-eating so fully and

eloquently expressed as in the Tirukural, written in the Tamil

language by a simple weaver saint in a village near Madras over

2,000 years ago. Considered the world's greatest ethical scripture,

it is sworn on in South Indian courts of law.

 

It is the principle of the pure in heart never to injure others,

even when they themselves have been hatefully injured. What is

virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to

every other sin.

312; 321, TW

 

Harming others, even enemies who harmed you unprovoked, assures

incessant sorrow. The supreme principle is this: never knowingly

harm any one at any time in any way.

313; 317, TW

 

What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may

avoid killing any living creature. Refrain from taking precious life

from any living being, even to save your own life.

324; 327, TW

 

How can he practice true compassion Who eats the flesh of an animal

to fatten his own flesh?

TK 251, TW

 

Riches cannot be found in the hands of the thriftless. Nor can

compassion be found in the hearts of those who eat meat.

TK 252, TW

 

Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a

weapon and one who feasts on a creature's flesh.

TK 253, TW

 

If you ask, " What is kindness and what is unkind? " it is not killing

and killing. Thus, eating flesh is never virtuous.

TK 254, TW

 

Life is perpetuated by not eating meat.The clenched jaws of hell

hold those who do.

TK 255, TW

 

If the world did not purchase and consume meat, there would be none

to slaughter and offer meat for sale.

TK 256, TW

 

When a man realizes that meat is the butchered flesh of another

creature, he must abstain from eating it.

TK 257, TW

 

Perceptive souls who have abandoned passion will not feed on flesh

abandoned by life.

TK 258, TW

 

Greater than a thousand ghee offerings consumed in sacrificial fires

is to not sacrifice and consume any living creature.

TK 259,TW

 

All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of

those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat.

TK 260, TW

 

 

TK REFERS TO THIRUKURAL AND TW REFERS TO THIRUWALLUVAR

 

 

 

 

" Even at the risk of your own self, refrain from acts that cause the

harmless, pain of their lives. " ~ The Tirukkural (327)

 

The mansahari, " meat-eater, " is poignantly described in the

following passage from the obscure Mansahara Parihasajalpita Stotram:

 

" Those who eat the flesh of other creatures are nothing less than

gristle-grinders, blood-drinkers, muscle-munchers, sinew-chewers,

carcass-crunchers, flesh-feeders-those who make their throat a

garbage pit and their stomach a graveyard-mean, angry, loathsomely

jealous, confused and beset by covetousness, who without restraint

would lie, deceive, kill or steal to solve immediate problems. They

are flesh-feeders, loathsome to the Gods, but friendly to the

asuras, who become their Gods and Goddesses, the blood-sucking

monsters who inhabit Naraka and deceptively have it decorated to

look like the pitriloka, the world of the fathers. To such beings

the deluded meat-eaters pay homage and prostrate while munching the

succulent flesh off bones. "

 

Hope this helps...

 

Shreeram Balijepalli