Idea of Ahimsa and Asceticism in Ancient Indian Tradition

Author(s): Bansidhar Bhatt
Publisher: B J Institute

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THE IDEA OF AHIMSA ....
makes us cautions against a practice of piling up the flesh of animals in our stomach, the practice, which brings no benefit to anyone:
sva-mamsam para-mamsena yo vardha yitum icchati / (MS. 5.52) Of course, this statement of Manu has a different context, but what meat-eating would generally look like is expressed in this line very effectively. Meat-eating causes high cholesterol contents which tend to make the atherogenesis much faster. Bowel cancer is due to low fibre contents in animal diet. Animal food causes heart attack, increases the myo-cardinal infaction stroke. It increases bacterial anti-gens and viral anti-gens more and more, and affects adversely the entire immune system of the human body. There are many other factors also, which go in favour of vegetarianism vis-a-vis non-animal diet which is more beneficial and advantageous to human health and life as a whole. It is also relatively more economical than the nonvegetarian diet.
C.
The modern methods of stimulating milk production by injecting with artificial hormones to animals like cows, and also calves, pigs, etc. are so terribly painful to animals, that we at once revolt a gainst it, at least by avoiding from our daily diet, even dairy production coming through such torturing tactics to poor and innocent creatures. It is beyond the scope to deal here fully with all arts and manners employed by cruel human beings for torturing the creatures, just for human happiness, for experiments in technical fields, medicines, physics, chemistry, etc. I would like to conclude the principal theme and concur fully with Lambert Schmitha usen by expressing my wishes, that we should decide firmly to accept willingly the vegetarian diet and to live a life according to the ahimsa ideal. We should not adopt any means of our survival at the cost of the lives of poor and innocent creatures - small, tiny or big -, we should let them live with due respect, but without injuring or torturing them any time. If we can, we should protest against industries and firms, where all possible cruel tactics accepted are detrimental to creatures and eco-system, we should boycott their dairy products and cosmetics, etc. for our daily life. We should insist in our diet on fruits, vegetables, which are grown or cultivated in natural procedures, without use of any chemicals and the like. We should protect nature, natural products, and the animal world surrounding us, and avoid any means that causes hazard to their lives. We should live with all in harmony and with goodwill (see: Schmithausen-2. pp.26-27).