Killing Animals - an essential subject

Animals are beautiful living creature made by the God. They eat, sleep, communicate, reproduce, and then die. Animals just like humans experience emotions and pain. Nowadays people forget that animals are also living beings. They can be helpless and need to rely on people for safety, just as our children do. Just because they cannot speak or convey their message to us doesn't give us the right to kill them whenever we want, it is similar to killing human being who cannot speak. This inequality, discrimination between man and animal is due to a lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one becomes actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he does not make such distinction that a man should be given protection and the animal should be killed. If the law can punish for homicide then why can't be punish for killing animals?

Under God's law, either you kill a man or you kill an ant, you are punishable. You cannot avoid this. Because in the eyes of God, Demigod or a small ant, they are all sons of God. When one is killing an animal, he should be prepared for being killed.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Killing Animals category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 11 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		Hunting women, drinking different types of liquor, becoming intoxicated, killing animals and enjoying sex all serve as the basis of modern civilization. Vaiṣṇavas are unhappy to see such a situation in the world, and therefore they are very busy spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.26.9)



vanipedia.org 		He who gives permission, he who kills the animal, he who sells the slaughtered animal, he who cooks the animal, he who administers distribution of the foodstuff, and at last he who eats such cooked animal food are all murderers, and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.37)



vanipedia.org 		Unless one can become free from the influence of passion and ignorance, he cannot be pacified, and without being pacified, one cannot understand the science of God. King Purañjana's returning home is indicative of man's returning to his original consciousness, known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is absolutely necessary for one who has committed a lot of sinful activities, especially killing animals or hunting in the forest. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.26.11)



vanipedia.org 		By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can become free from all contamination, especially contamination brought about by the killing of animals. Everyone has a chance to become purified by associating with this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.252)



vanipedia.org 		Mahārāja Parīkṣit said that only the animal-killer cannot relish the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if people are to be educated to the path of Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to stop the process of animal-killing as above mentioned. It is nonsensical to say that animal-killing has nothing to do with spiritual realization. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.24)



vanipedia.org 		A gṛhastha should be very much affectionate toward lower animals, birds and bees, treating them exactly like his own children. A gṛhastha should not indulge in killing animals or birds for sense gratification. He should provide the necessities of life even to the dogs and the lowest creatures and should not exploit others for sense gratification. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 7.14 Summary)



vanipedia.org 		A needy person may derive many advantages from trees and also from many animals, but in modern civilization people have become so ungrateful that they exploit the trees and animals and kill them. These are some of the sinful activities of modern civilization. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 9.46)



vanipedia.org 		Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya's propaganda opposed the atheistic philosophy of Buddha. Lord Buddha's intention was to stop atheists from committing the sin of killing animals. Atheists cannot understand God; therefore Lord Buddha appeared and spread the philosophy of nonviolence to keep the atheists from killing animals. Unless one is free from the sin of animal-killing, he cannot understand religion or God. Although Lord Buddha was an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, he did not speak about God, for the people were unable to understand. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.42)



vanipedia.org 		It is impossible to be exempted from the adversities caused by mentally concocted beliefs. According to man-made laws, if one person murders another he is condemned to the gallows, but no action is taken against a man for killing animals. Such is not the law of providence. The law of God is such that it punishes the killers of both man and animals; both acts of murder are penalized. The atheists deny the existence of God because in this way they think they can commit sins unhindered. (Renunciation Through Wisdom, Chapter 1.6)



vanipedia.org 		The Vedic literature is meant for humanity and not for cats and dogs. Cats and dogs can kill other animals for food without incurring sin, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste buds, he is responsible for breaking the laws of nature. Consequently he must be punished. (Sri Isopaniṣad, Mantra 1)



vanipedia.org 		A disparity exists in the original reality—between the Lord and His devotees—and is reflected here not only in the relations between parents and children in human society but even in the animal kingdom. Parental affection is exhibited even among lower animals because originally such affection in its fullness exists in God, the original father of all species of living beings. When a man kills an animal, God, the affectionate father, is perturbed and is pained at heart. Thus the slaughterer of the animal is suitably punished by the material energy, just as a murderer is punished by the government through police action. (Mukunda mālā-stotra, Text 1)


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Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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