26.
‘Thou Shall Not Kill’
Following is a conversation between His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and a Jesuit Priest recorded on July 25, 1973 in London.
Srila Prabhupada: One commandment is, Thou shall not kill. So if somebody kills innocent animals and eats them, is he leading the good life?
Priest: Father, you’re being a bit unfair, Thou shall not kill means “Thou shalt not unnecessarily take away life.” How would we be able to live if we didn’t eat meat?
Srila Prabhupada: How are we living? We are eating nice foods prepared from vegetables, grains, fruits, and milk. We don’t need meat.
Priest: Look at it this way. You just said a few minutes ago that there are eight million or so different kinds of life. Would you agree that the potato, the cabbage, and other vegetables also have life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Priest: So when you boil those vegetables, you’re taking away their life.
Srila Prabhupada: What is your philosophy — that killing a potato and killing an innocent animal are equal?
Priest: You said, “Thou shalt not kill,” but you kill the potato.
Srila Prabhupada: We all have to live by eating other living entities: jivo jivasya jivanam. But eating a potato and eating some animal are not the same. Do you think they are equal?
Priest: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: Then why don’t you kill a child and eat it?
Priest: I wouldn’t for a second think of killing a child.
Srila Prabhupada: One commandment is, Thou shall not kill. So if somebody kills innocent animals and eats them, is he leading the good life?
Priest: Father, you’re being a bit unfair, Thou shall not kill means “Thou shalt not unnecessarily take away life.” How would we be able to live if we didn’t eat meat?
Srila Prabhupada: How are we living? We are eating nice foods prepared from vegetables, grains, fruits, and milk. We don’t need meat.
Priest: Look at it this way. You just said a few minutes ago that there are eight million or so different kinds of life. Would you agree that the potato, the cabbage, and other vegetables also have life?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Priest: So when you boil those vegetables, you’re taking away their life.
Srila Prabhupada: What is your philosophy — that killing a potato and killing an innocent animal are equal?
Priest: You said, “Thou shalt not kill,” but you kill the potato.
Srila Prabhupada: We all have to live by eating other living entities: jivo jivasya jivanam. But eating a potato and eating some animal are not the same. Do you think they are equal?
Priest: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: Then why don’t you kill a child and eat it?
Priest: I wouldn’t for a second think of killing a child.
Srila Prabhupada: But animals and children are alike in that they both are helpless and ignorant; Because a child is ignorant, that does not mean we can kill him. Similarly, although animals may be ignorant or unintelligent, we should not kill them unnecessarily. A reasonable man, a religious man, should discriminate. He should think, “If I can get my food from vegetables, fruits, and milk, why should I kill and eat animals?” Besides, when you get a fruit from a tree, there is no killing. Similarly, when we take milk from a cow, we don’t kill the cow. So, if we can live in such a way without killing, why should we kill animals?
Priest: Would you say that because I eat meat and bacon and so on — does that make me sinful? If I didn’t eat those, I would be less sinful?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Priest: So if I give up eating meat and bacon and sausages, I would become a different person?
Srila Prabhupada: You would become purified.
Priest: That’s very interesting.
Srila Prabhupada: Animal killers cannot understand God. I have seen this; it is a fact. They do not have the brain to understand God.
Priest: Would you say that because I eat meat and bacon and so on — does that make me sinful? If I didn’t eat those, I would be less sinful?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
Priest: So if I give up eating meat and bacon and sausages, I would become a different person?
Srila Prabhupada: You would become purified.
Priest: That’s very interesting.
Srila Prabhupada: Animal killers cannot understand God. I have seen this; it is a fact. They do not have the brain to understand God.
The same power formed the sparrow
That fashioned man the King;
The God of the whole gave a living soul
To furred and to feathered thing.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox
That fashioned man the King;
The God of the whole gave a living soul
To furred and to feathered thing.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox
