Category:Animal Slaughter
Theme Analysis
In the Vedic tradition, nonviolence (ahiṁsā) is a fundamental principle of spiritual life. Śrīla Prabhupāda identifies animal slaughter (śūnā) as one of the four primary pillars of sinful activity in Kali-yuga, alongside illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication. He explains that maintaining organized slaughterhouses is a symptom of gross ignorance and demoniac mentality. According to the strict laws of karma, this violence cannot go unanswered. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphatically warns that the mass, unrestricted killing of millions of animals directly generates the karmic reactions that cause massive human wars, pestilence, and famine. Nature's justice dictates that those who slaughter animals today will be slaughtered themselves in the future.
A recurring theme in this category is the exposure of modern hypocrisy. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out the contradiction of "civilized" societies that claim to champion equality, fraternity, and humanitarian aid, yet mercilessly butcher their animal citizens. Opening hospitals for humans while operating slaughterhouses for cows is not true compassion. Furthermore, Śrīla Prabhupāda addresses the historical context of animal sacrifice. While the Vedas and other scriptures sometimes restrictedly permitted animal sacrifice to test the chanting of mantras (giving the animal a new life), people in Kali-yuga degraded this into an excuse for unrestricted meat-eating. To stop this, Lord Kṛṣṇa incarnated as Lord Buddha, propagating ahiṁsā to save the animals. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies a crucial distinction for his own movement: ISKCON is not a sentimental vegetarian society trying to blow up slaughterhouses. The goal is to change human consciousness through bhakti-yoga. By teaching people to eat only kṛṣṇa-prasādam, the desire for meat naturally vanishes, automatically and permanently stopping animal slaughter from the root.
- The Pillar of Sin: Animal slaughter is a foundational vice of Kali-yuga that completely blocks a person's ability to understand spiritual knowledge or sit on the seat of the ācārya (vyāsāsana).
- The Law of Karma: The universe operates on strict justice. The mass operation of slaughterhouses guarantees the mass slaughter of humans through devastating global wars.
- The Hypocrisy of Altruism: A society cannot claim to be peaceful or compassionate if it protects humans while systematically murdering defenseless animals.
- The Ultimate Solution: Artificial propaganda or sentimental activism cannot stop animal slaughter. The only permanent solution is to elevate human consciousness through pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the distribution of spiritual food (prasādam).
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Animal Slaughter - The Karmic Consequence of Organized Violence.
Subcategories
This category has the following 4 subcategories, out of 4 total.
A
C
S
Pages in category "Animal Slaughter"
The following 77 pages are in this category, out of 77 total.
2
- Buddha and animal slaughter
- If you are slaughtering animals and you are comparing that killing of the vegetables and the killing of the animals is the same, then killing your son and killing an animal is also the same. Why do you discriminate?
- Islam and animal slaughter or sacrifice
- Jesus Christ, Christianity and the slaughterhouse
- There are two types of animal-killers. The soul is also sometimes called the "animal" or the living being. Therefore, both the slaughterer of animals and those who have lost their identity of soul are animal-killers
A
- A man cannot do that (immediately pounce upon any animal and kills and eat); but his teeth is different, he has no nails; therefore he has to kill animal in different way, by slaughterhouse. So he is worse than animal
- Actually, in the sacrifices the slaughtered animals were given a new life, but people without such powers were taking advantage of such Vedic rituals and unnecessarily killing poor animals
- Animal life is always miserable, although, under the spell of the illusory energy, maya, the animals do not understand this. Slaughtering poor animals is also due to the mode of ignorance. BG 1972 purports
- Animals have to be sent to the slaughterhouse, and fellow man should be given help. This is daridra-narayana seva. And what this poor animal-narayana has done? Because poor fund of knowledge
- Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity and nonviolence?
- At that time (of Buddha's appearance) it became so excessive, pasu-ghatam, animal slaughter, that the Lord became compassionate, and He appeared to stop this. He originated a new set of . . . set-up of religion: No more animal killing. No more
- At the present moment in this age of Kali both the bull and the cow are now being slaughtered and eaten up as foodstuff by a class of men who do not know the brahminical culture
B
- Because you are not Krsna consciousness, you are discriminating in this way, that the human society should be given protection, the animal society should be slaughtered. Is that very good?
- Buddha appeared to stop this animal slaughter. He, he was born in Vedic family, ksatriya family, princely order. That is Vedic order, brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. So . . . but he enunciated a new type of religion, which is called Buddha religion
E
- Even dog is afraid, what to speak of man. The animals, when they are taken to be slaughtered, they cry. So animal is afraid of death, why not man? Everyone is afraid
- Even the so-called vegetarians who do not take Krishna prasadam are as much sinful as the non-vegetarians. Our propaganda is different, to make people Krishna Conscious, which automatically makes them sympathetic against any kind of animal slaughter
H
- He (Krsna) is compassionate always; He becomes so compassionate that He comes to stop this nonsense. That is buddha-sarira. Lord Buddha appeared when there was too much animal slaughter
- He (Maharaja Pariksit) allotted some place for Kali but in fact Kali could not find such places in the world at all because Maharaja Pariksit was strictly vigilant to see that there were no places for gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter
- 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
I
- In India, for instance, when people were over-indulging in animal slaughter, Lord Buddha came to establish ahimsa, nonviolence to all living entities. Similarly, in the above-quoted verse BG 4.8, Sri Krsna says that He comes in order to protect the sadhus
- In Kali-yuga, due to the increase of the modes of passion and ignorance, almost all men are asuric, or demoniac; therefore they are very much fond of eating flesh, and for this end they maintain various kinds of animal slaughterhouses
- In Kali-yuga, instead of drinking milk, people prefer to slaughter an animal and eat its flesh. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His instructions of Bhagavad-gita, advises go-raksya, which means cow protection
- In the age of Kali, the sudra class of men are in the posts of administrators, and the cows and bulls, or the mothers and the fathers, unprotected by the vaisyas, are subjected to the slaughterhouses organized by the sudra administrators
- In the Bhagavad-gita, it is said that the vaisyas are meant to deal in agriculture, cow protection and trade. In the age of Kali, the degraded vaisyas, the mercantile men, are engaged in supplying cows to slaughterhouses
- In the Vedas there are recommendation, sometimes animal slaughter. Very rarely. The purpose is another. That animal slaughter is not actually slaughter; it is an experiment
- In this age, people take pleasure in committing all kinds of sins. They have no brains to see that this body is temporary and full of suffering. They are completely in the mode of darkness, just like the animals they slaughter
- It is said in the sastra, striyah suna panam dyutam yatradharmas catur-vidhah, "Four kinds of sinful activities: illicit sex life, striyah; suna, the animal slaughter; panam, intoxication; dyutam, gambling." These are the four pillars of sinful life
O
R
- Real leaders have to be free of meat-eating and animal slaughter, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. This poster is being prepared in L.A. and I want it distributed all over the world
- Regarding propaganda against animal slaughter in BTG. Please do not print any picture showing how a cow is being murdered in our BTG. This will pollute the whole atmosphere
- Regarding propaganda against animal slaughter in BTG. Please do not print any picture showing how a cow is being murdered in our BTG. This will pollute the whole atmosphere. We are not meant for moving anyone's sentiment against animal slaughter
S
- Slaughtering animals, either for religion or for food, is most abominable and is condemned herein (SB 7.15.10). Unless one is merciless, one cannot sacrifice animals, either in the name of religion or for food
- Slaughtering poor animals is due to the mode of ignorance
- Stay away from this ". . . striyah suna" and unnecessary animal slaughtering; eating meat, fish, eggs etc. This human being becomes a heavy weight to mother earth
- Suta Gosvami said: Maharaja Pariksit, thus being petitioned by the personality of Kali, gave him permission to reside in places where gambling, drinking, prostitution and animal slaughter were performed
T
- The age of Kali began with gold standardization, and therefore falsity, intoxication, animal slaughter and prostitution are rampant all over the world, and the saner section is eager to drive out corruption
- The animal is also praja of the government. The trees are also praja of the government. So formerly nobody could slaughter an animal, nobody can cut even a tree without reason, without sanction by the Vedic injunction
- The devotees are pained to see the hunting and killing of animals in the forest, the wholesale slaughter of animals in the slaughterhouses, and the exploitation of young girls in brothels that function under different names as clubs and societies
- The four major vices are (1) illicit connection with women, (2) animal slaughter, (3) intoxication, (4) speculative gambling of all sorts. A gosvami must be free from all these vices before he can dare sit on the vyasasana
- The Lord said, "My dear King, because you are a ksatriya, you have committed the offense of slaughtering animals, both in hunting and in political engagements"
- The main purpose of this (Buddha) religion was to stop animal slaughter. Ahimsa paramo dharmah. Ahimsa means nonviolence. Nonviolence
- The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted calamities
- The Muhammadan religion allows animal slaughtering once in a year. It is called koravani. And they can slaughter animals in the mosque. Similarly, in the Vedic religion also, the animals are allowed to be slaughtered in some sacrifice
- The Muslims, they also cannot eat meat unless it is sacrificed in the mosque. There is no recommendation that you purchase from the market and the animal be slaughtered in the slaughterhouse
- The personality of Kali was given permission to live in four places particularly mentioned by the King (Pariksit), namely the place of gambling, the place of prostitution, the place of drinking and the place of animal slaughter
- The same mentality is involved in trying to blow-up a slaughterhouse as is there in meat-eating. Such things will not stop people from unnecessary animal slaughter
- The slaughter of animals is also restricted by certain rules and regulations in the Vedas. Considering these points, there was no reason to kill Jada Bharata, who was born in a respectable, highly exalted brahmana family
- The spiritual regulative principles, however, do not allow a man to slaughter weaker animals on one side and teach others peaceful coexistence
- The whole world is full of violence, and a devotee's first business is to stop this violence, including the unnecessary slaughter of animals
- There are three kinds of suffering, including miseries pertaining to the body and mind. In Hawaii, in front of my house, a man was keeping some animals and birds for the purpose of taking them to be slaughtered
- They should completely follow the principles of devotional service and remain free from illicit sex, gambling, intoxication and animal slaughter
- This is a sign of Kali-yuga. In this age, animals are kept nicely sheltered, completely confident that their masters will protect them, but unfortunately as soon as the animals are fat, they are immediately sent for slaughter
- This is the most exalted qualification, to become well-wisher of all living entities, not that we open hospitals for the human being and we send the cows to the slaughterhouse or poor animals should be slaughtered
- To serve human beings by medical aid, social help and educational facilities while at the same time cutting the throats of poor animals in slaughterhouses is no service at all to the soul, the living being
W
- War and animal slaughter
- We are glad that people are taking interest in the nonviolent movement of Lord Buddha. But will they take the matter very seriously and close the animal slaughterhouses altogether?
- We are not meant for moving anyone's sentiment against animal slaughter, we are neither Buddhists or Jains, whose propaganda is against animal slaughter. The so-called vegetarians who do not take Krishna prasadam are as much sinful as the non-vegetarians
- We may make propaganda against animal slaughter, but that will not advance our real cause. KC is based on pure understanding, not by any sentimental provocation
- When an animal is slaughtered in sacrifice, there is mantra. The mantra is that... The animal slaughter in sacrifice is recommended for the animal-eaters, not for all. Those who are... To restrict
- When animals are killed in a slaughterhouse, six people connected with the killing are responsible for the murder
- When India was too much addicted for animal slaughtering under the plea of Vedic sacrifice, the Lord Buddha appeared. Why? They misused the Vedic injunctions
- When people are demoniac in spirit, they are not merciful toward the poor animals. Consequently, they maintain various animal slaughterhouses. This is technically called suna, or himsa, which means the killing of living beings
- When you take the animal to the slaughterhouse for killing, he cries. Why? Because he's feeling pain. He knows that "I'm going to be killed." So there is soul. Soul is there
- Why He (Krsna) accepted buddha-sarira? Sadaya-hrdaya darsita-pasu-ghatam. He was very much compassionate to see unnecessarily animal slaughter. Krsna, God, is always kind. So when unnecessarily animal slaughter is done, He also becomes compassionate
- Why these animals are being slaughtered? There is some nature's law. They were murderer or slaughterer in their past life as human being
- Why these animals are being slaughtered? There is some nature's law. They were murderer or slaughterer in their past life as human being. Now they have assumed, they have accepted a body to be slaughtered by the laws of nature
Y
- You are very much anxious to give service to the humanity, but you are sending animals to the slaughterhouse. Why?
- You keep the animals here, and take one of them, slaughter - they will think, "I am safe." This is animal. All of them will think, "Oh, I am safe. He is being taken. That's all." This is their dull brain, the modern animals