“My dear King, although Kali-yuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age. It is that simply by chanting the holy name of Krishna, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 12.3.51)

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कलेर्दोषनिधे राजन्नस्ति ह्येको महान् गुण:
कीर्तनादेव कृष्णस्य मुक्तसङ्ग: परं व्रजेत्

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

“I have no problem with the recommendation from leaders of the Vaishnava community to avoid eating meat. They offer the four regulative guidelines, to refrain from meat-eating, gambling, intoxication, and illicit sex. I understand the excuse, the pretense, if you will, is aligning with the desires of the object of worship. We should strive to sacrifice as much as possible, and within a valid sacrifice [yajna] there is typically an offering of food. People who eat what is left over from the yajna avoid sin. Especially if the yajna is specifically in honor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are honoring prasadam, which is the Lord’s mercy.

यज्ञ-शिष्टाशिनः सन्तो
मुच्यन्ते सर्व-किल्बिषैः
भुञ्जते ते त्व् अघं पापा
ये पचन्त्य् आत्म-कारणात्

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ 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.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.13)

“As you might expect, the general public is initially not too enthusiastic when advised to avoid eating meat, especially if eating meat is part of the prevailing culture or the traditions of the family into which they were born. They might angrily retort that there is no reason to protect such animals, that God gave man dominion over the lesser beings. Man has to eat, after all. What is the difference in harming a plant and harming a mother like a cow, who otherwise produces milk at the sight of her children?

“The critics also argue that the followers of the Vaishnava tradition are hypocrites. Because the very Vedas with which they supposedly align also recommend various sacrifices involving animals. There is even the gomedha, which involves killing a cow. Why, then, all of a sudden is there an outright ban on the practice?

“Furthermore, why so much attention paid to diet? Why should it matter the type of food that a person consumes? This is spiritual life, after all. This is for elevation of the spirit. Food is simply a way to survive. If I want to survive on animal flesh, that is my choice. That is my right. That is my business. Stay out of my business.”

अश्वमेधं गवालम्भं
सन्न्यासं पल-पैतृकम्
देवरेण सुतोत्पत्तिं
कलौ पञ्च विवर्जयेत्

aśvamedhaṁ gavālambhaṁ
sannyāsaṁ pala-paitṛkam
devareṇa sutotpattiṁ
kalau pañca vivarjayet

“In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyāsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in his brother’s wife.” (Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Krishna-janma-khanda, 185.180)

If such critics are so fond of referencing the Vedas, are they following all of the recommendations? If they mention Manu-smriti as their source for justification, do they obey all of the laws of Manu? Or do they simply pick and choose to meet their desires? Do they seriously equate a deliberate, intentional, controlled, and labor-intensive ritual such as a yajna with the modern-day schemes of slaughterhouses, which kill animals on a level of an assembly-line factory?

It is true that all of the recommendations put forward are part of genuine spiritual life. The aim is to elevate the spirit. The first exercise is to detach from the bodily mentality. That mentality is held together through agitation of the senses. In other words, real religion is for controlling the senses.

Otherwise, there would be no purpose to mentioning rules and regulations for eating and interaction with the opposite sex. Marriage has no applicability in the animal community. Neither does a thorough review on the kinds of food to eat. The animals follow their instincts. The human beings are not animals. They have the power of comprehension, of deliberation, of rational thought.

There is a Sanskrit word which describes control over the senses. Jitendriyah refers to someone who is not swayed by desires ignited by seeing, touching, tasting, and the like. A jitendriyah person can sit down at a buffet table full of delicious food and avoid it, for instance. They will not be enticed when observing a particular vow, a vrata, that calls for fasting.

We should aspire to be jitendriyah not for plaudits, for respect within society, for achieving distinction and honors, or for even belittling others. Jitendriyah is the platform for happiness. That is the reason for the recommendation. There may be other factors involved in asking others to avoid eating meat. There is the implication with karma, which is fruitive activity. There is the loss of compassion in mercilessly slaughtering innocent animals.

But the ultimate objective is happiness. Even when consuming food within the approved categories, there is a call for restraint. Shri Krishna describes that the person in yoga does not go to extremes in eating and sleeping. They indulge as much as is necessary. No more and no less.

नात्य्-अश्नतस् ऽतु योगो ऽस्ति
न चैकान्तम् अनश्नतः
न चाति-स्वप्न-शीलस्य
जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन

nāty-aśnatas ‘tu yogo ‘sti
na caikāntam anaśnataḥ
na cāti-svapna-śīlasya
jāgrato naiva cārjuna

“There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.16)

There are many animal sacrifices described in the original Vedas, but the entire society is so degraded today that it is impossible to implement every single recommendation from the original culture. Such sacrifices involving the horse or the cow are generally forbidden in this fallen age of Kali. Even the many calls for intense austerity and rigorous adherence to prayer at the allotted times of the day are no longer followed.

Whatever the specific diet we follow, we should strive for reaching the jitendriyah platform. The Supreme Lord is known as Govinda, among many other names, because He gives pleasure to the senses. Working to satisfy Govinda is the best way to control the senses and thereby reach a platform of happiness. The means for satisfying Govinda in the present age is to always say His names, in a steady and consistent way through what is known as the sankirtana-yajna: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Though not observed still,
Yajna where animals to kill.

Why on that point now stuck?
By obvious hypocrisy not struck?

Jitendriyah the platform to reach,
Purpose behind practices to teach.

Though degraded and fallen today,
Elevated through holy names to say.

Categories: questions

Tags: cows, dailyprompt, poem, poems, poetry, vegetarian, yajna