yāta-yāmaṁ gata-rasaṁ pūti paryuṣitaṁ ca yat |
ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaṁ bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 17.10)
“Foods that are stale [lit., past their time], tasteless, foul-smelling, putrid, left over [i.e., partial eaten by another person], and unofferrable foods [e.g., meat] are dear to a tāmasic person.”
tasmād daivopapannena muny-annenāpi dharmavit |
santuṣṭo’har ahaḥ kuryān nitya-naimittikīḥ kriyāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.11)
“Therefore, one who knows dharma and is contented should perform one’s regular and incidental duties day by day even with the foods of the sages which are obtained by destiny.”
na dadyād āmiṣaṁ śrāddhe na cādyād dharma-tattvavit |
muny-annaiḥ syāt parā prītir yathā na paśu-hiṁsayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.7)
“One who knows the truth of dharma shall never offer flesh in a śrāddha nor shall one ever eat it. Satisfaction [of Bhagavān, as well as the devas, forefathers, other living beings, so forth] shall come about with the foods of the sages, and not so through animal slaughter.”
sarvātmanā na hiṁsanti bhūta-grāmeṣu kiñcana |
uccāvaceṣu daityendra mad-bhāva-vigata-spṛhāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.20)
“O King of the Daityas, free from [material] desire because of their bhāva for me, my bhaktas by any means do not commit violence towards any living being, high or low.”
bho bhoḥ prajāpate rājan paśūn paśya tvayādhvare |
saṁjñāpitāñ jīva-saṅghān nirghṛṇena sahasraśaḥ ||
ete tvaṁ sampratīkṣante smaranto vaiśasaṁ tava |
samparetam ayaḥ-kūṭaiś chindanty utthita-manyavaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.25.7–8)
“Bho! Bho! O protector of the people! O King! See now the animals—the thousands of living beings—that have been mercilessly killed by you in sacrifice. Remembering how you cut apart their bodies, they are waiting for your death. Then, using their iron horns, they will tear you apart with ferocious anger.”
nāyaṁ mārgo hi sādhūnāṁ hṛṣīkeśānuvartinām |
yad ātmānaṁ parāg gṛhya paśuvad bhūta-vaiśasam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.11.10)
“Identifying with the external self [i.e., the body] and killing other living beings is animal-like; it is not the path of the sādhus who follow Hṛṣīkeśa [i.e., the Master of the senses, Bhagavān].”
jīvo jīvasya jīvanam |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.13.47)
“A living being is the life of [another] living being.”
māṁ sa bhakṣayitāmutra yasya māṁsam ihādmy aham |
etan māṁsasya māṁsatvaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ ||
(Manu Smṛti: 5.55)
“Me he will eat in the next life whose meat I eat in this life. The wise say this is the basis of meat being [called] ‘māṁsa’ [i.e., ‘mām-sa,’ lit., ‘me’-‘he,’ implying, ‘me he will eat whose meat I eat’].”
yajñārthaṁ paśavaḥ sṛṣṭāḥ svayam eva svayambhuvā |
yajño’sya bhūtyai sarvasya tasmād yajñe vadho’vadhaḥ ||
oṣadhyaḥ paśavo vṛkṣās tiryañ ca pakṣiṇas tathā |
yajñārthaṁ nidhanaṁ prāptāḥ prāpnuvanty utsṛtīḥ punaḥ ||
(Manu Smṛti: 5.39-40)
“Svayambhū [i.e., Brahmā] himself created animals for the sake of sacrifice (yajñā). Sacrifices are for [the good of] all living beings, and thus slaughter for the sake of sacrifice is not [actually] slaughter. Herbs, animals, trees, reptiles, birds and so forth that have been killed for the sake of sacrifice reach thereafter a higher existence.”
yāvanti paśu-romāṇi tāvat kṛtvo ha māraṇam |
vṛthā paśughnaḥ prāpnoti pretya janmani janmani ||
(Manu Smṛti: 5.38)
“One who frivolously kills an animal is killed birth after birth as many times as there were hairs on the animal’s body.”
