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Tuesday 2 December, 2008
By  rajeswara rao   21:53 | 6/Feb/2007 |  0 Comment(s)
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The Meatless way of Life..

Being a vegetarian or non-vegetarian remains a matter of ones choice.  I believe being vegetarian is a better way to a healthy living. Any say about that? The scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. Here are what they have to say-


In the Mahabharata, for instance, (read Anu.114.11) the great warrior Bhishma explains to Yudhishtira, eldest of the Pandava princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one's own son, and that the foolish person who eats meat must be considered the vilest of human beings.

Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should 'refrain from eating all kinds of meat,' for such eating involves killing and leads to karmic bondage (bandha).


Elsewhere in the Vedic literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharajah Parikshit, is quoted as saying that 'only the animal-killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth [Shrimad Bhagavatam 10.1.4].


The Hindu scriptures also speak clearly and forcefully on non killing and vegetarianism.


In the ancient Rig Veda, we read: "O vegetable, be succulent, wholesome, strengthening; and thus, body, be fully grown."

The Yajur Veda summarily dictates: "Do not injure the beings living on the earth, in the air and in the water.


The Manu Samhita advises: "Having well considered the origin of flesh and the cruelty
of fettering and slaying of corporeal beings, let one entirely abstain from eating flesh."


The roots of non injury non killing and nonconsumption of meat are found in the Vedas, agamas, Upanishads, Dharma Shastras, Tirumurai, Yoga Sutras and dozens of other sacred texts of Hinduism. Here is a select collection.

Vedas and agamas, Hinduism's Revealed Scriptures

The Rig Veda Samhita 10.191 says-
LET YOUR AIMS BE COMMON, and your hearts be of one accord, and all of you be of one mind, so you may live well together.

Rig Veda Samhita 10.37.11. VE, 319
Protect both our species, two-legged and four-legged. Both food and water for their needs supply. May they with us increase in stature and strength. Save us from hurt all our days, O Powers!


Rig Veda Samhita, 10.87.16, FS 90
One who partakes of human flesh, the flesh of a horse or of another animal, and deprives others of milk by slaughtering cows, O King, if such a fiend does not desist by other means, then you should not hesitate to cut off his head.


Atharva Veda Samhita 10. 191. 4 says-
Peaceful be the earth, peaceful the ether, peaceful heaven, peaceful the waters, peaceful the herbs, peaceful the trees. May all Gods bring me peace. May there be peace through these invocations of peace. With these invocations of peace which appease everything, I render peaceful whatever here is terrible, whatever here is cruel, whatever here is sinful. Let it become auspicious, let everything be beneficial to us.


Atharva Veda Samhita 19.48.5. FS, 90
Those noble souls who practice meditation and other yogic ways, who are ever careful about all beings, who protect all animals, are the ones who are actually serious about spiritual practices.

Atharva Veda Samhita 6.120.1. VE, 636
If we have injured space, the earth or heaven, or if we have offended mother or father, from that may Agni, fire of the house, absolve us and guide us safely to the world of goodness.


The Yajur Veda Samhita 12.32. FS, 90 says-
You must not use your God-given body for killing God's creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.


Yajur Veda 36.18.
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.


Krishna Yajur Veda, Prana Upanishad 46-8. VE, 413-14 says
Nonviolence is all the offerings. Renunciation is the priestly honorarium. The final purification is death. Thus all the Divinities are established in this body.

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

to be continued..........all without any malice towards all the meat lovers

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