Pañcadraviḍa: "But God did not mean us not to eat. We must eat."
Prabhupāda: God did not . . . that means you have to eat only meat? You have nothing to eat?
Pañcadraviḍa: But if I eat a plant, it is also killing.
Prabhupāda: That is your argument. But God says that, "Thou shall not kill." You cannot argue. This is the first theory. Suppose if I say something to you, order, you cannot argue. That is not obedience. Obedience means without argument accepted. That is obedience. That is love.
Satsvarūpa: The other important point is that we love God not for getting some reward. You say that the other important thing is that this person who is very pious, claims to be pious, but he approaches God for material reward.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is business. That is not love. I go to somebody and flatter him to get something. Just like a shopkeeper does also like that. He flatters the customers in so many ways to sell goods so that he can make some profit. So there is no question of love.
Akṣayānanda: But that, "I am following Jesus Christ and I am a vegetarian," so that's all right, isn't it?
Prabhupāda: I am following Jesus Christ . . .?
Akṣayānanda: "But I am a vegetarian. I do not eat meat. I don't kill. I do not kill."
Prabhupāda: Oh, therefore I am a better Christian, better than you. Love . . . therefore the Bhāgavata is perfect. Bhāgavata says that . . . Bhagavad-gītā says . . . Kṛṣṇa says that patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). So we are obeying Kṛṣṇa. We offer patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, and we eat the remains of the foodstuff. Therefore we love. That is the proof. But you are not loving Jesus Christ, because you are disobeying the order.