$JES 921 Book of Compassion Reverence For All Life Reference Book

Author(s): Pramoda Chitrabhanu, Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 48

8- FACTS ABOUT EGGS
Pramoda Chitrabhanu Jain Meditation International Center, New York
08 - Facts about Eggs
Do you remember as a child your mother telling you not to eat cakes or pastries that had eggs because you are a vegetarian? Many times, I have heard people saying, eggs are vegetarian food and are good for health, so we eat it. The myth about vegetarian eggs and its health-promoting qualities are misleading. Its consumption by so many vegetarians is really shocking. The ignorance of such matter has spread so far that people resist believing that an egg has potential life and that an egg has an unborn chick within its shell.
Man's desires for food has made him go to extremes and leading him to eat those foods that are colored with violence and pain. Nature has its reason for eggs, not by way of food for man but as an important link in the reproductive cycle of hens. It is the craving for violent food that numbs the feeling and thinking capacity of the human being. He ignores going deep into the subject and shuns the truth of the matter. But how long will he remain in darkness? For facts are facts and they will never change whether he accepts it or not.
Let us look at some facts about eggs and remove the ignorance that prevails in our mind. The facts you are about to read are taken from the book Hundred Facts about Eggs by Dr. Nemi Chand.
Eggs of all birds are structurally alike (See the McDonald Encyclopedia of Birds of the World, Page 30-31). Their internal structure is meant for reproduction of progeny and not for human consumption. By eating eggs, man has reverted to the hunting stage of his civilization. He is meddling both with nature and with the reproductive system.
The egg is totally forbidden for those who believe in non-violence. Right from the rearing of hens to the hatching of their eggs, there is violence all over. A visit to any poultry farm will support this fact. In poultry farms, hens are considered no better than egg-producing machines. They are confined to a narrow space of 15" x 19" in the midst of several hardships and tensions that are naturally passed on to the blood and system of those who eat their eggs and turn them into imbalance personalities.
THE BOOK OF COMPASSION
48