Ahiṁsa

yajñārthaṁ paśavaḥ sṛṣṭāḥ svayam eva svayambhuvā

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.”

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yāvanti paśu-romāṇi tāvat kṛtvo ha māraṇam

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.”

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kaṇḍanī peṣaṇī cullī udakumbhī ca mārjanī

kaṇḍanī peṣaṇī cullī udakumbhī ca mārjanī |
pañca-sūnā gṛhasthasya tābhiḥ svargaṁ na vindati ||
(Viṣṇu Smṛti: 59.19-20; cited in the Subodhinī and Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkās on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītiā: 3.13)

“The mortar, the grinding stone, the hearth, the waterpot, and the broom—the householder does not reach Svarga because of these [i.e., because of the acts of violence committed through the use of these five intruments].”

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pañca-sūnā gṛhasthasya cullī peṣaṇy upaskaraḥ

pañca-sūnā gṛhasthasya cullī peṣaṇy upaskaraḥ |
kaṇḍanī ca udakumbhaś ca badhyate yāstu vāhayan ||
(Manu Smṛti: 3.68)

“The hearth, the grinding stone, the broom, the mortar, and the waterpot—the householder has five instruments of slaughter by using which he becomes implicated [in sin].”

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go-aṅge yata loma, tata sahasra vatsara

go-aṅge yata loma, tata sahasra vatsara |
go-vadhī raurava-madhye pāce nirantara ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.166)

[Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] “Cow-killers continuously rot in Raurava [i.e., hell] for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the bodies of the cows [they kill].”

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ete na hy adbhutā vyādha tavāhiṁsādayo guṇāḥ

ete na hy adbhutā vyādha tavāhiṁsādayo guṇāḥ |
hari-bhaktau pravṛttā ye na te syuḥ para-tāpinaḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.262; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.147, 2.24.273)

“O hunter, these qualities of yours of non-violence and so forth are not actually so extraordinary. One engaged in Hari-bhakti shall never become a harmer of others.”

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yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ

yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ |
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.13)

“A virtuous person who subsists on the remnants of sacrifice (yajña) is liberated from all sins [i.e., the consequences of violence towards other living beings]. But one who prepares food for oneself partakes only of sin.”

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ye tv anevaṁ-vido’santaḥ stabdhāḥ sad-abhimāninaḥ

ye tv anevaṁ-vido’santaḥ stabdhāḥ sad-abhimāninaḥ |
paśūn druhyanti viśrabdhāḥ pretya khādanti te ca tān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.14)

“The ignorant, impious, and stubborn who consider themselves virtuous confidently kill animals, and those animals eat them in their next life.”

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