One life is meant to be eaten by another. That is nature's law. But we should use discrimination in what kind of foodstuff we shall eat

Expressions researched:
"discrimination" |"discriminative" |"eat" |"eating"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase research query: "discriminat* kill* eat*"@40

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

You are human beings; you are not cats and dogs. You must have discrimination, what to eat, what to not eat.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Translator: (translating questions from French) Jesus Christ..., it is said that he made the miracle of the fish and ate. So why is it that one should not eat meat?

Prabhupāda: Jesus Christ said, "You shall not kill." Why you are killing?

Translator: But then why did he eat fish?

Prabhupāda: He can eat the whole world, but you cannot do that. You must follow his instruction, "Thou shall not kill." You must have discrimination. You are human beings; you are not cats and dogs. You must have discrimination, what to eat, what to not eat. Because we have to eat some other living entity, it does not mean that I shall eat my sons and daughters. "Discrimination is the best part of valor." So far we are concerned, we are eating certainly vegetable, but not directly. We eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam. Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati: (BG 9.26) "Anyone who offers Me with love and affection vegetables, grains, milk, I eat." So if there is any sin for eating vegetables, that is Kṛṣṇa's sin, not our sin. We take the prasādam. We are teaching people to eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam. We are not teaching people to become vegetarian or nonvegetarian. That is not our business. After all, we have to eat, so if we eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam... That is stated, yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ: "If you accept prasādam which is offered to God, then you are free from all sinful resultant action."

I have already explained, that because one living entity is foodstuff for another living entity, that does not mean you shall eat your family members or any human being. No, there must be discrimination.

Lecture on BG 13.22-24 -- Melbourne, June 25, 1974:

This is the struggle. One living entity is the food for another living entity. That is lower grade life. In the higher grade life, no, they cannot kill anyone for eating purposes. Therefore in the Bible the First Commandment is "Thou shalt not kill." But all these Christians, they are violating the First Commandment. That is their business. Simply engaged in killing, big, big slaughterhouse.

And they give the example that "Others are eating vegetable, that is also killing." Yes, that is also killing. But that I have already explained, that because one living entity is foodstuff for another living entity, that does not mean you shall eat your family members or any human being. No, there must be discrimination. But so far we are concerned, we are not killing anybody for eating purposes. We are eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda, foodstuff which is offered to Kṛṣṇa and then we eat. The remnants of foodstuff we eat.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

There is order that one life is meant eaten by another. That is nature's law. But we should use discrimination what kind of foodstuff, what kind of living entities we shall eat.

Lecture on SB 1.10.5 -- Mayapura, June 20, 1973:

So, in this way, there is order that one life is meant eaten by another. That is nature's law. But we should use discrimination what kind of foodstuff, what kind of living entities we shall eat. That Kṛṣṇa... (?). We have taken vow to eat only Kṛṣṇa's prasādam. There is something. Whatever Kṛṣṇa orders. So that is a fact that each and every living entity is meant for another living entity for eating. When we get human form of life, the animals, they, just like, another eat vegetables. Similarly, the cows. Nature's law is there. Although one animal is meant for by another these animals, they use their discrimination by nature's law. Tigers will never come to your garden to eat fruits and vegetables. No. By nature, they have got teeth and jaws to kill another animal. They want to eat, drink blood, fresh blood. Nature has given them all the provisions for that. Similarly, we human beings, this is scientific. Our teeth are meant for eating fruits. That is one Dr. Cooney, in your Germany. He said that... And actually, if you eat fruits and milk, you will have never any kind of sickness. That's a fact. So they're also life.

So we should use our discrimination. We... We, our only business is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So under Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we cannot eat anything which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa says: patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Kṛṣṇa does not say that "You give me meat, eggs and fish." Kṛṣṇa does not say.

The law is, nature's law is that "One living entity is the food for another living entity." Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. But a human being should be discriminative. If I can live by eating fruits and grains and milk, why shall I kill animal? This is human consciousness.

Lecture on SB 6.1.17 -- Denver, June 30, 1975:

So that is sādhu, no meat-eating. Here you will find. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement you will find, nobody is meat-eating. Nobody is prepared to kill even an ant, what to speak of big animal. They put argument that "You are vegetarian, and you are also killing vegetable life." Of course, we are killing. But we are not killing vegetables. First of all, vegetables are not killed. If I take a fruit from the tree, the tree is not killed. Or if I take the grains from the plant, before the grains are ripe the plant dies. So actually there is no question of killing. Although the law is, nature's law is that "One living entity is the food for another living entity." Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. But a human being should be discriminative. If I can live by eating fruits and grains and milk, why shall I kill animal? This is human consciousness. Milk, if you get milk, you can prepare hundreds of nice preparations, all full of vitamins and nourishing. In our New Vrindaban we are maintaining cows and having so many nice preparations, rābri and lagdu and this peḍā and baraphi and sandeśa and rasagullā and yogurt—varieties enough. The other farmers they come, they are surprised, that "Such nice preparation can be made from milk?" Yes, you do not know. You do not know how to utilize the animal. Ignorance. The milk is also produced out of the blood.

So it is intelligence. You are drinking the blood in a different way, produced by nature with more vitamin values and more taste and more gentleman. Why should you kill one cow and try to drink the blood? The blood is there already, but in a different form, without any violence. And we have seen it. It is practical experience that if the cows are assured they would not be killed, they will give you double milk. That we have experience.