Veganism and Krishna Consciousness

by Vasu Murti devi dasi

Srila Prabhupada has written, "Real philosophy is nothing more than this: friendliness to all living entities." Elsewhere, he writes, "If people are to be educated in the path back to Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to stop the process of animal-killing."

I became vegan for a few years beginning in 1995. I was pointing out to friends at a Feminists For Life meeting that for 1800 years, Christians had upheld and defended (human) slavery on biblical grounds, and that history was now repeating itself with regards to animals.

The response I got from the women present was that my words would carry greater weight if I were vegan rather than vegetarian, and I had to admit they were right. There is a great deal of cruelty in the way dairy products are obtained through modern factory farming.

To ignore this kind of suffering merely because we believe dairy products are somehow "necessary" for our spiritual advancement (they are not) is to trivialize the former and it will allow people of other faiths to counter that we are vegetarian merely because we follow "dietary laws" rather than out of genuine concern for animals.

Lord Caitanya made vegetarianism central to the sankirtana movement when He brought up the subject of meat-eating with the Chand Kazi of Navadvipa. And Srila Prabhupada followed our Lord's example by repeatedly bringing up the subject with people of other faiths ("thou shalt not kill").

In a purport from the First Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada writes: "It is nonsensical to say that the killing of animals has nothing to do with spiritual realization."
Similarly, in his purport to the Srimad Bhagavatam 6.10.9, Srila Prabhupada writes:
"One cannot continue killing animals and at the same time be a religious man. That is the greatest hypocrisy. Jesus Christ said, 'Do not kill,' but hypocrites nevertheless maintain thousands of slaughterhouses while posing as Christians. Such hypocrisy is condemned..."
Srila Prabhupada even candidly told a Catholic priest in London in 1973, that, "Animal-killers cannot understand God. I have seen this. It is a fact."

Srila Prabhupada said, "...as far as meat-eating is concerned, every cow will die—so you just wait awhile, and there will be so many dead cows. Then you can take all the dead cows and eat...Don't kill. When the cow is dead, you can eat it."

Entry continued here.