So it is the duty of the king, emperor... Immediately detected that "Why these poor animals are being killed? They are also subject to the laws of the state. As the human being requires protection, similarly, the cows... Not only cows, everyone requires protection by the government. Why they should be not protected? Therefore because the protection was not given to the cows and the bulls, he immediately took him, that "This rascal is not a kṣatriya; he's a śūdra. In the dress of a king, he's doing mischievous activities." Immediately punished him. This is government's duty. If anyone... Just like, anyone is breaking law, it is the duty of the government to chastise him, similarly, the law should be... Exact good government law means that anyone who kills an animal without sanction... Of course, they now give sanction, that "Yes, you can kill as many animals in the slaughterhouse as you like." Because the government is śūdra. Government is not kṣatriya. So therefore is no protection. Why animal? Even a human being, if he's being killed on the street, on the Broadway, nobody cares for him. So this is the position. But Parīkṣit Mahārāja was not such a king or such a head of the executive... He immediately punished. Therefore it is mentioned specially: ojasā vīraḥ kalim. Kali is to be punished.
The government shouldn't allow you to keep slaughterhouses
Expressions researched:
"government"
|"slaughterhouse"
|"slaughterhouses"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
Here we find some indication of how the government can arrange for the eating of cow flesh. It is here indicated that in a rare circumstance when there is no supply of grains, the government may sanction the eating of meat. However, when there is sufficient food, the government should not allow the eating of cow's flesh just to satisfy the fastidious tongue. In other words, in rare circumstances, when people are suffering for want of grains, meat-eating or flesh-eating can be allowed, but not otherwise. The maintenance of slaughterhouses for the satisfaction of the tongue and the killing of animals unnecessarily should never be sanctioned by a government.
As described in a previous verse, cows and other animals should be given sufficient grass to eat. If despite a sufficient supply of grass a cow does not supply milk, and if there is an acute shortage of food, the dried-up cow may be utilized to feed the hungry masses of people. According to the law of necessity, first of all human society must try to produce food grains and vegetables, but if they fail in this, they can indulge in flesh-eating. Otherwise not. As human society is presently structured, there is sufficient production of grains all over the world. Therefore the opening of slaughterhouses cannot be supported. In some nations there is so much surplus grain that sometimes extra grain is thrown into the sea, and sometimes the government forbids further production of grain. The conclusion is that the earth produces sufficient grain to feed the entire population, but the distribution of this grain is restricted due to trade regulations and a desire for profit. Consequently in some places there is scarcity of grain and in others profuse production. If there were one government on the surface of the earth to handle the distribution of grain, there would be no question of scarcity, no necessity to open slaughterhouses, and no need to present false theories about over-population.
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Irresponsible government means, the Kali's government means, that these things will be irregular, not regularized. Just see. This is Vedic civilization. Aśana, eating—there must be regulative principle, not that like hogs and pigs you can eat everything, no. There must be control. Control is there already. Just like in government, when you open a restaurant, immediately there is control. You have to take license, that "You have to supply food like this or like that. You cannot supply anything rubbish." Is it not? Control is there, but because it is controlled by another rascal, group of rascals, so they allow everything to eat. Everything eat. Control is there, but they do not know what kind of control should be there. The control should be, as we are prescribing, Kṛṣṇa consciousness move..., "You cannot take anything without Kṛṣṇa's prasāda." That is real control. Then you'll be happy. Control is already there, but they do not know because they are being governed by kṣatra-bandhūn. Kṣatra-bandhūn means kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means the ruling class. Kṣat, kṣat means injure, and trāyate, one who gives you protection from being injured. He's kṣatriya. It is the duty of the government that every citizen, never mind whether human being or animal, he may not be injured by anyone. That is responsible government. It is not responsible government that one poor animal, because he does not know how to give him protection, although there is government, he is taken away to the slaughterhouse. This is not government.
Vaiśya means produce food grain, kṛṣi, agriculture, not produce food in the slaughterhouse. No. Slaughterhouse, even the sixth-class, seventh-class men... They did not know how to produce food, how to live. That means the aborigines in the jungle. They were hunting one animal, then eating, not that civilized nation, organized slaughterhouse. Oh, how horrible it is. If you want to eat an animal, then you go to the jungle, kill one animal, and eat. The government is not going to maintain a slaughterhouse for you. You see? This is the civilization. So our eatables should be food grains—kṛṣi-go-rakṣya—and milk. Kṛṣi means by agriculture process you can produce fruits, flower, vegetables, then rice, wheat, and pulses, and you have got milk. Then where is your want, scarcity? This is civilization. Meat-eating is meant for the sixth-class, seventh-class men who does not know, who remain naked, and they can neither produce food neither cloth in the jungle. It is for them. They also were not very much expert to maintain a slaughterhouse. When you need, you can kill one lower animal, not cow. The cow is not available in the jungle. You can have some deer or some boar. So these unimportant animals were killed by them. That is the sixth class, not the first class, second class, third class, fourth class. No. And the fourth-class man who could not utilize his brain as first class, second class, third class, then he becomes fourth class—his business: to help, worker, these higher three classes.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: ...is that nṛpa-liṅga-dharaṁ śūdram. The śūdras, fourth-class men, they are on the government executive. This is one defect. And another defect is ghnantaṁ go-mithunaṁ padā, maintaining large-scale slaughterhouse. These are the two defects of modern civilization. They..., on the top of government there are śūdras, not kṣatriyas. Neither they are guided by intelligent class, brāhmaṇas. Parīkṣit Mahārāja's first beginning is dvija-varya-śikṣayā. The guidance was first-class brāhmaṇas, and he was a kṣatriya, first-class. And there was no animal slaughterhouse. They are also suffering. They are bringing every day some problem. "What is the solution of this problem, what is this solution...?" But why the problems are coming? Because the defect is there that the, on the head of the government there are śūdras and they are busy in cow-killing, maintaining slaughterhouse. This is the defect. And they are not guided by the first-class, intelligent class of men.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: You have become so civilized rascal that your business is to kill other animals and eat. You are so civilized. You are still in the crude form of human being, just like in the jungles, the aborigines, the Africans, they do not know how to develop civilization—crude methods, eating the animals. That also, they are not so uncivilized that they keep slaughterhouses. You are so uncivilized that you are keeping slaughterhouses, regularly. These Africans and other jungle people they eat meat, but they directly kill. They have no such civilization as to maintain a slaughterhouse. The tigers eat meat, but they do not keep a slaughterhouse. And you are civilized. You are keeping slaughterhouse. Why should you keep? The government shouldn't allow you to keep slaughterhouses. If anyone wants to eat meat, let them eat like tigers and others. Individually, kill one animal—a lower animal, not cows. This should be the government law. You can kill one insignificant animal, like pigs or goats. It has not very much use. You kill it in your home, before your children and family, and eat. THe government may not have any objection. But why should you maintain slaughterhouses? So the agriculturist and the mercantile men, they should produce enough food, give protection to the cows, and if there is excess, sell it. Where there is not enough food grain produced you can make business. That is the instruction given in Bhagavad-gītā, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya vāṇijyam (BG 18.44). That is really needed. Nobody is interested. Everyone comes to the city, the mercantile class. They are doing business, big, big skyscraper building, and they have artificial money, paper. And instead of eating food grains they are maintaining slaughterhouses. This is not good civilization.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Rāmeśvara: They've created so many problems to solve. (apparently reading sign) (pause)
Prabhupāda: South Pacific Railway? ISKCON government means this, stop all these four things. No slaughterhouse, close. The meat-eaters may become agitated, they may complain, "No, you are not forbidden to eat, you can eat, but slaughter in your house."
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Natural death.
Prabhupāda: The government is not going to maintain slaughterhouse, that's all. We don't forbid you; you can do at your home.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes. The cows will die one day from old age, then they can eat.
Prabhupāda: Yes, if you like to eat, the dead cow. Just like you are eating...
Prabhupāda: Yes. No, the meat-eaters cannot be stopped. They will eat meat. So they can kill the small animals, unimportant, not cow. Kṛṣṇa says, go-rakṣya. He never said lamb-rakṣya or hog-rakṣya. (laughs) You can eat hog. If it is decided that you must eat meat, then you can eat a nonimportant animal. We have no objection.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Or at least, as you said this morning, wait until the cow dies naturally.
Prabhupāda: That is another. Otherwise, if you want to kill, you kill less important animal.
Hari-śauri: Chickens.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Give protection to the cow, the source of milk.
Hari-śauri: In most rural districts formerly, even just sixty or seventy years ago, they used to do that. The used to keep a hog or some animals for killing. They would fatten them up and kill them.
Prabhupāda: Still in India, the low class, they keep hogs for killing. And they publicly kill the hog by burning outside the village skirt.
Hari-śauri: I can remember when I was a child that my grandfather, he had one pigsty. And the house we were living in, that also had a pigsty at the back. There were no pigs by the time I came, but only just a few years before they were doing that.
Prabhupāda: Why the government should keep slaughterhouse?
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: You asked them that in Mauritius, I remember. The government started a chicken slaughterhouse. You said, "Why the government should have slaughterhouse?" And they replied, "They will kill them anyway. There are so many Muslims." Prabhupāda said, "Let them kill, but why the government should support this slaughter?"
Prabhupāda: Let them kill at their house. Especially chicken, anyone can kill.
Hari-śauri: The government's idea is that "The people are going to do these activities, so we may as well cash in, make money."
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Hari-śauri: The government, their idea is that if they are going to do this activity...
Prabhupāda: And as soon as I heard that prime minister went to open this, I immediately...
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda didn't want to meet him.
Prabhupāda: "Oh, he's a rascal."
Hari-śauri: In Mauritius the prime minister opened a chicken factory.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Yes, he's a Hindu too.
Prabhupāda: Immediately I gave up the idea of meeting this rascal.
| Page Title: | The government shouldn't allow you to keep slaughterhouses |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Mayapur |
| Created: | 24 of Aug, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=3, Con=4, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 8 |