nāsti vedāt paraṁ śāstraṁ nāsti mātuḥ samo guruḥ
nāsti vedāt paraṁ śāstraṁ nāsti mātuḥ samo guruḥ ||
(Atri Smṛti: 5.148)
“There is no śāstra greater than the Veda, and no guru like one’s mother.”
Smṛtis
māṁ sa bhakṣayitāmutra yasya māṁsam ihādmy aham
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
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
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.”
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].”
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].”
antaḥ saṁjñā bhavanty ete sukha-duḥkha-samanvitā
antaḥ saṁjñā bhavanty ete sukha-duḥkha-samanvitā |
(Manu Smṛti: 1.49)
“They [i.e., plants] possess internal awareness and experience pleasure and pain.”
samutpattiṁ ca māṁsasya vadha-bandhau ca dehinām
samutpattiṁ ca māṁsasya vadha-bandhau ca dehinām |
prasamīkṣya nivarteta sarva-māṁsasya bhakṣaṇāt ||
(Manu Smṛti: 5.49)
“Having fully understood the [disgusting] origin of meat and the [cruel] acts of binding and slaughtering living beings [needed to produce it], one should abstain from eating all types of meat.”
anumantā viśasitā nihantā kraya-vikrayī
anumantā viśasitā nihantā kraya-vikrayī |
saṁskartā copahartā ca khādakaś ceti ghātakāḥ ||
(Manu Smṛti: 5.51)
“The permitter, the cutter, the killer themself, the buyer, the seller, the cook, the transporter, and the eater—all such persons are considered slaughterers.”
nākṛtvā prāṇināṁ hiṁsāṁ māṁsam utpadyate kvacit
nākṛtvā prāṇināṁ hiṁsāṁ māṁsam utpadyate kvacit |
(Manu Smṛti: 5.48)
“Meat is never produced without harming living beings.”