Bondage and Freedom

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

Page 74

live on a vegetarian diet are kind and compassionate; but sociology and other sciences show that those races which are non-vegetarian in their diet have been more war-like and more inclined towards violence.
Man is Nature's eldest son. Is it not the duty of the eldest child to protect his younger brothers? Man is forever civilising himself and improving upon Nature, and so, even if he finds animals killing each other in Nature, it is his duty to prevent it as far as possible, or at least, not add to it.
I would like to relate to you an incident in the life of that fascinating philosopher, Bernard Shaw. Some friends and admirers gave a banquet in his honour, but Shaw refused to eat and when he was questioned he pointed to all the meat dishes and said, “I am a human being, and not a graveyard for dead animals.”
One visit to the slaughter-house, where these innocent souls are massacred, would be enough to give an idea of the cruelty inflicted upon them. Their looks of fear and the dumb appeal in their eyes as they are dragged away from their dear ones, are enough to melt a heart of stone. And who says animals do not have feelings towards one another? I am reminded of a certain incident related to me by my friend, Mr. Brown, an American writer. One day, he saw two mice walking along in a strange fashion. They were holding a straw at each end in their mouths and walking side by side, but with one of them a