(Yajurveda XL-7) says-

TATRA KO MOHAH KASSOKAH EKATVAMANUPASYATAH

"He who visualizes all beings as souls ( and not as woman, men, children, cows , deer ,peacocks, tigers serpents etc) in his mind , does not feel infatuation or anguish at their sight , for he experiences oneness (sameness or similarity) with them".

How could people who believed in the doctrines of indestructibility , transmigration and oneness (similarity) of souls , as the followers of the vedism are known to be , dare to kill living animals in yajnas? They might be seeing the souls of their own near and dear ones of bygone days residing in those living beings .

They cannot be expected to indulge in such heinous action for the momentary satisfaction of their taste and hunger.

YajurVeda XXVI-18 says:-

"MITRASYA MAA CAKSUSAA SARVAANI BHUUTAANI SAMIIKSANTAAM

MITRASYA CAKSUUSAA SARVAANI BHUTAANI SAMIIKSE

MITRASYA CAKSUUSAA SAMIIKSAA MAHE"

"May all living beings look upon me as their friends and may I too treat them as my own friends. Oh God, do arrange things in such a way that all (living beings) behave with one another like true friends".

Can you expect people who not only believed in, but lived upto the Vedic ideals of friendliness for all living beings enunciated above act in a manner so as to kill their fellow beings whom they looked upon as their own friends , merely for the flimsy and transitory gratification of their hunger?

The Doctrine of universal friendliness (Love) enunciated above has culminated in absolute non-killing of any other form of living life in those days.

"MAA HIMSIIHI PURUSAM...."

Likewise Yajurveda XIII-74 also says:-

"IMAAM MAA HIMSIIHI

DVIPAADAM PASUM..."

AGAIN Yajurveds XIII-42 and XIII-49 forbids killing of cows ( for they provide energizing food for human beings).

It is said there:-

(a) "GAAM MAA HIMSIIRADITIM VIRAAJAM"

(b) "GHRTAM DUHAANAMADITIM JANAAY .... MAA HIMSIIHI"

Again Yajurveda XVI-43 and Yajurveda XVI-47 ban slaughter of sheep and goats.

It is said there:-

" AVIM.... MAA HIMSIIHI..."

Like wise Yajurveda XVI-41 , and Yajurveda xvi-48 say that horse should not be killed .

It is said there:-

(a) " ASVAM .... MAA HIMSIIHI"

(b) " IMAM MAA HIMSIIHI ... VAJINAM"

In Rigveda VIII-56-17 cow slaughter has been declared a heinous crime equal to human murder and it has been said that one who commits this crime should be given capital punishment.

In AtharvaVeda I-6-70 meat eating has been put on par with vices like drinking and gambling. It is said there:-

"YATHAA MAAMSAM YATHA SURAA

YATHAA AKSAA ADHIDEVANE

YATHAA PUMSO VRSANYATAH

STRIYAAM NIHANYATE"

"Surely , human mind gets polluted when it is lust ridden and when it is set on meat eating , drinking and playing dice".

When there are such clear tenets directly decrying the consumption of meat for human beings and declare it as a vice equal in intensity to that of other vices like gambling , etc. ; then is it not a travesty of facts to say that ancient followers of Vedism were nonvegetarians, as has been espoused by many western thinkers.

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Anonymous |117.197.51.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s "YATHAA MAAMSAM YATHA SURAA YATHAA AKSAA ADHIDEVANE YATHAA PUMSO VRSANYATAH STRIYAAM NIHANYATE" arth : " jaise jyaan, aishvarya aur anek vyavhaar,anek vyavhaaryukt raajdwaar mein rahte hain, jaise apne ko aishvaryamaan maanne vaale purush kaa man stuti mein v apnee patnee mein sthir rahtaa hai vaise hee he naa marne vaalee prajaa tera man parmeshwar mein dridh rahe bhaavaarth:manushya parmeshwar mein bhakti kar sada aanand bhoge please check may be not the right mantra at right place dhanyavaad ReplyQuote 0 0

Nares |12.151.152.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s I am a strict vegetarian. I eschewed use of leather and trying to eschew dairy products (as no longer cows are treated by humans as it should be treated in vedas). But all the time I get opposition from non-vegetarians saying if plants and trees have life, why stick to false ideals. I haven't got any convincing answer, till now. :( ReplyQuote 1 0

kundan |86.50.111.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s good question,..i read in one of the vedas and i think it is also there in gita that all living souls eg.human,animals and birds reincarnate because of their karma of past lives but not plants..so it is not a sin to eat plants..plants dont have any sense like the rest ex.no eyes,ears, tongue... if they were souls then definitely mother nature and god would have given them too...most of the westerners with their intoxicated mind filled with desire cant understand this..its their karma..u cant change a tiger to be a vegan..majority of them are still in the process of being enlightened so its too early for them to understand the deep philosophy and revelations of the life and science of consciousness.. ... ReplyQuote 2 0

ross  - re: |12.186.80.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s kundan wrote: good question,..i read in one of the vedas and i think it is also there in gita that all living souls eg.human,animals and birds reincarnate because of their karma of past lives but not plants..so it is not a sin to eat plants..plants dont have any sense like the rest ex.no eyes,ears, tongue... if they were souls then definitely mother nature and god would have given them too...most of the westerners with their intoxicated mind filled with desire cant understand this..its their karma..u cant change a tiger to be a vegan..majority of them are still in the process of being enlightened so its too early for them to understand the deep philosophy and revelations of the life and science of consciousness.. ... you are hating westrners..you hate lot of un privilaged in your oun place...religion...dharma...because you got it in your blood...just not eating meat doesnt make anybbody good... ReplyQuote 0 0

nitya-lila |207.38.188.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s you do get karma for eating plants, less then for animals, still you kill plants. plants are living too, that means that they have a soul, when they die the soul i released and it gets another body for the karma it has. plant do reincarnate.i don't know which bhagavad gita you read, but you should check out Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada ReplyQuote 0 0

nitya-lila |207.38.188.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s you do get karma for eating plants, less then for animals, still you kill plants. plants are living too, that means that they have a soul, when they die the soul i released and it gets another body for the karma it has. plant do reincarnate. the only way to free vegetarian food from karma is to offer it to God [krishna or vishnu-whoever you worship, and he doesn't accepts meat, fish or eggs]i don't know which bhagavad gita you read, but you should check out Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada ReplyQuote 0 0

Anirudh  - @Nares veg |122.164.61.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s The point is not about killing a living creature. It is about being decent. By giving a bloody end to a creature you are becoming arrogant and materialistic. Anger is what you get out of such bloody killings. On the other hand by killing a plant you don't see blood and hence your mind is not affected. When a dog bites a man it is prone to do it again... Same for humans. They loose their cool. Effects of meat on psyche can be immediate... you become compassionate. If your family is veg for generations effect is still greater. You will be very soft and compassionate. Eg. There are fewer Bhramins and other traditional vegetarians in the list of regular murderers. Even when you kill a plant you should ask for its forgiveness as you can't live without eating :) You should not kill plants for sadistic pleasure. Just because you don't like a plant at a particular place you should not uproot it. How will you feel if you are evicted from your house by a powerful man. Use your power wisely :) Plants do have life but have poor nervous system for them to feel. ReplyQuote 0 0

Anu |12.200.113.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s I am sorry If you feel proud that u r a veg . Then I must tell u that plants do have life and even they feel the pain when you cut them . Plants also shouts but the reason you can not hear their shout is that their frequency is too low i.e between 10 to 20 Megahurt. I request you not to eat plants also. And also please stop breathing because when you inhale lot of livinig particles die due to your respiration. ReplyQuote 0 0

yashwant  - proof? |180.149.49.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s what is the proof/publication of ur contention? ReplyQuote 0 0

Aryaveer  - vegetarianism and Vedas. |59.96.58.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s @ Naresh Plants and trees do have life. But they lack the pain causing organs as humans having. Hence they feel no pain when they are trimmed. The plants and trees get more healthier and grow well when they are properly trimmed. If they are not trimmed they grow haphazardly. This is not so in case of humans. You cut the part of the body and it never grows. For more on the subject pl see another article " Is meat eating proper or not" appearing in " Vedas for beginners" This point has been tackled. Secondly there is no harm in using the footwear prepared out of the skin of animals which are dead naturally. Of course, it would be difficult to know whether the foot wear is prepared out of this process. Hence, footwear made out of artificial products could be used and it solves all your problems. Let it be known that Gandhiji a staunch Vegetarian used to wear foot wear made of animal skin. Is Milk is veg or non-veg? Pl see article under " Must read category" where the issue has been dealt. ReplyQuote 0 0

Aryaveer |59.96.58.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Is Milk Veg or Non-veg? Pl see the article appearing under the Must read category at this site. You may get the answer. Vedas which speak of Non-violence never forbid taking Milk. It is healthy and nutritious besides causing no pain to animals when milked naturally. You may go thru " Go karunanidhi" a small book let written by Swami Dayanand. Dayanand classifies food as fit and unfit and Milk becomes a food under fit category. ReplyQuote 0 0

Aryaveer.  - Vegetarianism and Vedas. |59.92.203.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Also consider the following. 1. Plants and animals (cows/pigs) are not the same thing. 2. Plants may be living but whether they have a soul is debatable. 3. Tell them you simply do not eat that moves or could move like eggs after they hatch. 4. For unfertilized eggs question - three things can come out of a living being - 1. milk, 2. life, 3 - waste. It definitely is not a milk, if it is life or waste then we do not eat that. 5. Most plants dry up and die after giving fruit/vegetable/ grain naturally. On trees fruits ripe and fall. So where are we killing. 6. If plants have a soul then they are on the bottom of the food chain. e.g. next to plants and trees are insects, then birds then 4 legged animals then humans. 7. If pulse/fruit/ vegetable has a life then tell them we eat living not the dead (compared to dead animals) Hopefully this will help[courtesy V.C garg] ReplyQuote 0 0

Siva  - Doubt |150.203.45.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Hi Aryaveer, What sastra says about plant and soul? In one Thevaram (south indian nayanmar's saints song)he clearly mention humans transmigrate from plants too. In krsna story,narad muni had cursed kubera's sons to be tree and krsna as Damodara had revived them in his lila. How does sastra determine the food chain? All I know living beings are catogeries according to their number of senses. Plants has the lowest senses. If we have a brother who is retarded or in comma whose senses are not working can we put him on the bottom of the food chain?? I hope vedas give clear indication on the food we can consume?? ReplyQuote 0 0

Naresh |12.151.152.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Thank you @Aryaveer, Reading the articles, I found I am not the only one with these questions. I eschewed leather, because, today not a single piece of leather is from dead animal but killed animal. Milk and Diary products, because milk is not given to calves, after the cow grow barren it is headed to slaughter houses, even in India (sad situation). I decided to be vegetarian, and others who tried to push me towards non-vegetarianism failed. But I fail in the argument of plants having life and even if it is at the bottom of food chain, it is killing again. Consider rice, wheat, etc, plants are allowed to dry (die) and then we consume it. Is it not killing a life form? ReplyQuote 0 0

Chandra Shekara Bhat  - Sanctity of Vegetarianism |124.123.28.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s 1. Trees give fruit for someone else. If someone does not take it, it will fall down. Whereas, an animal will have to be killed brutally to consume its meat. 2. If you cut tree's leafs or branch, it will grow further, whereas you can't expect to cut a leg of a goat and then grow. I think, this is the difference. ReplyQuote 0 0

yashwant  - re: |117.252.64.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s atma in plants is in a state in which it does not have senses organs. how will it experience pain. eating fruit , using shade , cutting dry branches for firewood allows the atma in plants to get punya. leave one teat of the cow for the calf. use 3 teats for milk production. this is vaidik ahimsa. when the farmer produces grain he cuts a lot of earthworms during tilling. the idea is that karma can be good, bad and mishrit. one cannot walk without fear of treading on small jeeva. still one must walk and gain punya by paropkar. some paap or punya is always retained by atma and hence there is mukti for a paraantakaal only. ReplyQuote 0 0

Divyesh  - Eating plants is veggie... |70.44.184.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Myth: Plants feel pain too. Fact: Since they have no central nervous systems, nerve endings, or brains, there is no reason to believe that plants feel pain. If you want to be responsible for the least number of deaths possible, a vegetarian diet is still preferable to a meat-based one, since the vast majority of grains and legumes raised today are used as feed for cattle. By eating vegetables directly, you save many more plants' lives than you would if you ate animals such as cows, who must consume 16 pounds of vegetation in order to produce 1 pound of flesh. ReplyQuote 1 0

amarjit singh bamrah  - Do animals have a soul |90.199.222.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s LESSONS FROM GOD- Do animals have a soul We all know that animals have feelings. Look at Dogs, horses, cats etc they show much compassion to their owners. It was a beautiful summers day and I was checking for any aircraft for sale on Ebay when I noticed there was an aircraft a Cessna 172 for sale It looked quite expensive however I thought I would give a call to the seller. The aircraft was at Kemble airport some 3 hours drive away. I rang the owner this is how the conversation went : Amarjit Singh "I am ringing about the aircraft for sale" Richard "I am sorry you will have to call back we are busy at present with our horse, who is ill " Amarjit. "Do you want me to look at the horse and pray" Richard"How can you, you are at London Biggin Hill UK we are miles away" Amarjit " I can ask God" Richard "Okay there is no harm in trying" I asked God and my Guru Sai Baba to allow my consciousness to reach the Horse As I looked at the Horse I could see that there was much disturbance in the abdomen which Richard confirmed internal organ failure! The Horse spoke and said, "Amarjit, why is my head pounding away there is so much disturbance in my head please help me!" I spiritually scanned the head and was shown pain killers affecting the horse, I asked the Angels to help reduce the pain. The Horse spoke and said "Amarjit, I feel a lot better, please ask my Owner where are my testicles". I was shocked I could not understand what the horse meant! (It was only now I realized Horse testicles are removed for better performance etc) I spoke "Richard, your horse wants to know where are his testicles" ReplyQuote 0 0

amarjit singh bamrah  - Do animals have a soul |90.199.222.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s LESSONS FROM GOD- Do animals have a soul We all know that animals have feelings. Look at Dogs, horses, cats etc they show much compassion to their owners. It was a beautiful summers day and I was checking for any aircraft for sale on Ebay when I noticed there was an aircraft a Cessna 172 for sale It looked quite expensive however I thought I would give a call to the seller. The aircraft was at Kemble airport some 3 hours drive away. I rang the owner this is how the conversation went : Amarjit Singh "I am ringing about the aircraft for sale" Richard "I am sorry you will have to call back we are busy at present with our horse, who is ill " Amarjit. "Do you want me to look at the horse and pray" Richard "How can you, you are at London Biggin Hill UK we are miles away" Amarjit " I can ask God" Richard "Okay there is no harm in trying" I asked God and my Guru Sai Baba to allow my consciousness to reach the Horse As I looked at the Horse I could see that there was much disturbance in the abdomen which Richard confirmed internal organ failure! The Horse spoke and said, "Amarjit, why is my head pounding away there is so much disturbance in my head please help me!" I spiritually scanned the head and was shown pain killers affecting the horse, I asked the Angels to help reduce the pain. The Horse spoke and said "Amarjit, I feel a lot better, please ask my Owner where are my testicles". I was shocked I could not understand what the horse meant! (It was only now I realized Horse testicles are removed for better performance etc) I spoke "Richard, your horse wants to know where are his testicles" There was this silence and Richard spoke" It was nothing to do with me the Vet removed his testicles" T... ReplyQuote 0 0

neha  - re: vegetarianism |94.192.224.xxx |Y-m-d H:i:s Nares wrote: I am a strict vegetarian. I eschewed use of leather and trying to eschew dairy products (as no longer cows are treated by humans as it should be treated in vedas). But all the time I get opposition from non-vegetarians saying if plants and trees have life, why stick to false ideals. I haven't got any convincing answer, till now. :( hey great job dude! it doesnt matter what they think. im a vegetarian too. the way i see it is, plants are r living organisms, and they may have "feeling" how i dont know coz they dont have a brain and nervous system like animals. but most importantly plants photosynthesise, they have potential to make their own food. animals are not able to make their own food which is why animals eat plants. plants role is to generate oxygen for us to breath in and supply food for us. ReplyQuote 0 0

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