Is Vegetarianism Essential to Hinduism?

Article written 2012

There are two broad groups within Hinduism as there are in all religions. Namely those who practise Hinduism and those who are just born Hindus. Born Hindus might follow the cultural and traditions of Hinduism but that is not to say that they practise Hinduism. Now let us see what are the things a practising Hindu should be not be doing, this is according to the founder of the Hare Krishna society Srila Prabhupada, one of the greatest exponents of Hinduism in recent times. According to him one has to refrain from meat eating (that is meat, fish and eggs), gambling, intoxication and sex outside marriage to be a practising Hindu. A practising Hindu as opposed to a born Hindu is aware that he has been going through cycles of life and death for a very long time and that now at last he has the opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal of human life, that is to get out of cycles of birth and death and go back to god’s kingdom. To be compassionate towards all living beings who are at our mercy is an important part of reaching that goal. In fact it is not enough just to be compassionate, one should be pro active in his or her compassion, that is one should reduce the suffering of animals wherever possible. This can be done by joining campaigns such as stopping fox hunting, bull fighting, and so many other ways by which human beings torture animals. Feeding birds and animals, helping animal sanctuaries, avoiding products which have animal ingredients such as toothpastes, sweets, cakes, not wearing leather shoes or buying leather sofas  are some of the ways in which one can be proactive!  Now let me take you a little further back at the beginning of the 20th Century and lets see some of the greatest names in Hinduism at the time namely Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Radhakrishna, Rabidranath Tagore and many others were vegetarians. Going back further at the beginning of the 19th Century Hinduism produced many saints such as Ramkrishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekananda and many others.  There is no record of them ever eating meat. In fact I know of no Hindu monk who has eaten meat . Going back 500 years, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu the greatest exponent of Vaishnavism, Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism and Dayanand Saraswati founder of Arya Samaj were all vegetarians. Let us now go further back to 2,500 years.  Both Lord Mahaveera and Lord Buddha based their entire preaching on Ahimsa and compassion towards all living beings. It is at this point that practises like animal sacrifices had taken a hold within some sects of Hinduism, but to conclude that that was enough proof to support meat eating is a bit far fetched. Both Buddhism and Jainism acted as reform movements at the time, reemphasising Ahimsa as the most sacred creed of Bharatvarsha.  Let us now go even further back 5000 years ago during the time of Krishna who personified compassion towards animals with the cow considered most sacred not for any sentimental reasons but for the simple fact that you should not eat what is really a second mother on whose milk you have grown up. The Mahabharata took place at the same time when Krishna was present and in the Mahabharata we see mention of food many times and meat is hardly mentioned any where. When the Pandavas were banished to the forest they lived on Khichdi. This is not to say that some people and even communities did not eat meat at the time but to justify meat eating at present because of that is a bit far fetched! The Mahabharat ends with Bhisma on his death bed of arrows that had penetrated his body. Arjuna asks him, ‘ what is the greatest thing in life’, Bhishma replied, Ahimsa-non violence. Going back to the era of Lord Rama tens of thousands of years ago, again we see that people lived a vegetarian life style and Rama and Sita lived in the forest on a diet of fruits. Now it is often claimed that Rama killed the deer that Sita wanted. Sita wanted the deer to keep as a pet and urged Ram to catch it, Ram however knew that the deer was actually a demon sent by Ravana. Some Kshatriya kings did go hunting but they by no means had an amnesty from the law of Karma, they knew that they will be accountable for their actions. Hinduism has gone as far as giving divine status to animals, Lord Hanuman and Ganapati come to mind but there are many others  References to the sayings in some scriptures  or to some Sadhu in the past who ate meat do not justify our meat eating today. If one does want to refer to scriptures then let us look at the ultimate authority which is Bhagvad Gita in which Krishna says that, ‘if one offers me a leaf, flower, water or fruit with devotion I will accept it.’  There is no mention of meat anywhere. In the Srimad Bhagvatam there is the story of, ‘Jada Bharat’. He was not considered very intelligent and was given the job carrying the king on the palanquin.  However he did not walk in a straight and the king admonished him, saying that he could not even walk in a straight line. Jada Bharath replied that he was trying to avoid stepping on the insects on the ground. The king bowed down to Jada Bharath saying that he was truly intelligent. We also must allow this seed of compassion to grow within us, just as we do not like to get hurt no living being likes to get hurt. This Ahimsa however is not the Ahimsa of a coward it is the Ahimsa of the brave, people who campaign to stop the export of live animals, people who expose the cruelties in factory farming, hunting and vivisection, these are brave people who want to take make this world a better place. Just as slavery was abolished due to the efforts of a few dedicated people even though it was quite normal at the time, the cruelties perpetuated on animals will one day be eradicated when animals will be given fundamental rights and Hindus have a historical duty to play a part in making this happen not least by introducing the people of the world to the delights of Indian vegetarian food.

In fact it is Ahimsa that has kept Indian civilisation alive while all other ancient civilisations have perished with the passing of time. God protects those who protect the weak and helpless.   

Now let us for a moment concede that none of this matters and that meat eating is a personal issue and that there should not be any attempt to convince anyone otherwise. We forget however that there is a third party involved in all this and that is the animal, what about the animal’s opinion,yes some might say they can’t speak or perhaps we don’t understand them. Is it not then our moral duty to speak out on behalf of animals who can’t shout for their rights?  Why is it that in the 21st Century the human race is totally blind to the suffering of animals and that we are finding newer ways to torture and abuse animals?  A staggering 65 billion animals are being killed every year for food. This is to feed a world population of 6.5 billion.This planet is just not big enough to sustain so many animals and enormous damage is being do mother Earth.  We want peace for ourselves, in fact we crave for peace and yet we think nothing of inflicting pain and suffering on animals. We are also destroying the environment. We will probably lose the rain forests of South America in our lifetime, to be precise by 2030 because of the relentless cutting of trees to produce cheap Beef and Soya. Soya is produced not for human consumption but to feed the animals. Almost 40% of world’s grains are fed to animals, grains that can feed human beings. The world  population will grow to 9.5 billion by 2050 and unless human beings revert to a plant based diet mass starvation and an ecological disaster is inevitable. Huge trawlers used in fishing are destroying the eco systems of the oceans and all marine like turtles and dolphins as well as coral reefs and mangrove forests are being destroyed. Coral reefs and mangrove forests can act as a buffer in a Tsunami like situation.

Though fish has been promoted as healthy food for many years, the mercury levels in those who eat a lot of fish can be very high, babies in the womb of the mother eating a lot of fish can suffer from lower intelligence, changes in immune system and hormone disruption.  Almost 8% of world’s water resources are used up in raising animals for meat production. It is said that wars will be fought over water in future. Meat production is putting in jeopardy the lives of future generations. It is in mankind’s best interest to give up meat eating. The higher up the food chain you go the greater likelihood of getting many diseases. Europe and USA is already paying a very high price in terms of health of its people due to massive consumption of meat.  Heart Disease, Blood Pressure, Obesity, and various forms of Cancer are all associated with meat eating,the pharmaceutical industries are making an absolute killing from in an increasingly sick world!  A Vegetarian diet and Yoga can keep one healthy and a healthy population will not be a burden to the country which in turn means that the country will prosper. Srila Prabhupada used to say that wars are a result of our abuse of animals. According to the law of Karma if I killed even an ant I will be accountable for it, I will suffer the negative karma of my action sooner or later. So here is a paradox by being compassionate to animals you are not doing them any special favour,you are actually being compassionate to yourself. So become a vegetarian if you are not, but that is just the beginning, promote vegetarianism, make others vegetarian, and do not give your business to those who exploit animals, only go to vegetarian restaurants, do not wear leather and eventually go Vegan! Vegetarianism and compassion to animals is India ’s great heritage and the secret of its survival, nurture it and protect it!

Nitin Mehta MBE,