Lord Buddha, when He saw that people are sacrificing animals in the name of religious rituals without any pity for them, at that time Lord Buddha appeared. Therefore it is stated, sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam: "My dear Lord, You have appeared as Lord Buddha, just being compassionate to the poor animals." Lord Buddha preached ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ: "The best religious principle is to become nonviolent." He preached this philosophy, that "If somebody hurts you, you feel pain, then why should you kill other animal and put it into painful condition? So don't be . . . don't do these sinful activities." That was His main principle of philosophy that He preached.
He was Hindu, kṣatriya, Hindu prince, born in a kṣatriya family, and He was prince . . . ah, very luxurious life. So as young man, when He saw an old man and he is traveling, walking with great difficulty, He asked his servant, "What is this? Why this man is walking in this way?" He was explained that, "This is old age, and in old age everyone has to become like this." So He at once left home and sat down in Gayapradesh, a province in Bihar in India. And He began to meditate how to make solution of this old age.
So there are four problems. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is mentioned that janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). If you are actually intelligent, then you must keep these four problems before you. Do not think that the problems of life are solved by material advancement. Do not think that by building, constructing skyscraper houses, the problems of life are solved. No. The problems of life are these four principles: birth, death, old age and disease. If you cannot solve these problems, then your problems of life remain the same.
The solution of the problems . . . just like our bodily demands, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating:
- āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca
- samānyam etat paśubhiḥ narāṇām
- (Hitopadeśa)
The problems of eating, problems of sleeping, problems of defending and problems of mating, or sex life, these problems are there in the animal life or amongst the living entities lower than the human beings. But those problems are solved automatically by laws of nature. The birds, beasts, they are also eating. They have no economic problem. They are also sleeping, and they are having their mates and sex life. And they are also defending in their own way. Human form of life, the most developed consciousness, intelligence, if we are also busy in solving these problems of life, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating, then we are not very much advanced than the animals, because they have got these problems and they are trying to solve them.