Anyone who knows that the living entity, soul, is avinasi, indestructible, then where is the question of killing? But that does not mean the Bhagavad-gita is encouraging killing. No. That is not the purport. Killing is prohibited. But when we see that a brahmana is killing one animal in the sacrifice, it is not killing. Therefore we have to see with the eyes of Vedic knowledge.
Prabhupāda:
- vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
- navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi
- tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny
- anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī
- BG 2.22
So this verse we discussed last morning. That this body is just like dress. This is not our real identification. I am thinking "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am African," "I am Russian," "I am brāhmaṇa, " "I am kṣatriya, " "I am śūdra, " "I am Andhra-pradesh," "I am Bengali." These are all nonsense. But on this nonsense idea the whole world is going on. So how there can be real knowledge? The basic principle of knowledge is ignorance. Andha. The man who is leading, he is blind. How he can lead? This is the position. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ SB 7.5.31 . They are trying to make advancement of civilization, but the basic principle is wrong. They are accepting... This is called illusion, accepting something as something else. The... Just like this... If I identify myself with this coat and shirt, the basic principle of my identification is lost.
So here it is clearly said that vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni. Before this,
- vedāvināśinaṁ nityaṁ
- ya enam ajam avyayam
- kathaṁ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha
- kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam
Anyone who knows that the living entity, soul, is avināśi, indestructible, then where is the question of killing? But that does not mean the Bhagavad-gītā is encouraging killing. No. That is not the purport. Killing is prohibited. But when we see that a brāhmaṇa is killing one animal in the sacrifice, it is not killing. Therefore we have to see with the eyes of Vedic knowledge. Not with these eyes. What is the value of these eyes? It has no value. We are very much proud: "Can you show me?" What is value of your seeing? Even if I show you, the value of your seeing power is nil. It sees only under certain conditions. That's all. If there is a light, you can see. What is the value of your eyes? Therefore the real seeing is through Vedic knowledge. That is seeing. Śāstra-cakṣus. Real knowledge, real seeing power, should be through the śāstras. And śāstra means infallible, not theory. Not theory. Just like a conditioned soul writes some book on some thesis. What is the value of it? It has no value. Because the man who is putting forward the thesis, he is blind. He's imperfect. So how you can get perfect knowledge from him?
