The Truth

Author(s): O P Jain
Publisher: Veer Nirvan Granth Prakashan Samiti

Page 83

74
THE TRUTH
and has nothing to do with meat cating. In modern warfare, it is equally the quality of mind that is essential. In any case, we had several famous generals in the past who were vegetarians.
Some people, similarly, confuse the issue of health with extraordinary bodily strength. Although these are two different things but still both vegetarians and non-vegetarians are found to excell in these qualities.
. Vegetarianism is an attitude of life which refuses to enjoy any pleasure at the cost of another's pain. It is the policy of living at peace with all beings as far as possible. It is a protest against harshness of nature and cruelty of man. It is a more radical innovation than any modern science to raise the cultural level of man. The rational conclusion from vegetarianism is that one should refuse anything for any purpose in which animals are slaughtered--even medicine and leather goods. It is more advanced culture and a matter of pride to follow it. It is very wrong for people to take to non-veg. food merely to appear more modern. Infact, it is a backward step and merely exhibits lack of will power or ignorance of real nature of self. How interesting it is to note that some people justify killing for food on the analogy that bigger fishes eat the smaller ones and bigger animals prey on smaller ones and that survival of the fittest is the Law of Nature. They atonce downgrade man to the level of beasts whose faculties of thinking are much inferior, who do not understand their real self, for whom this body alone represents the self and who have no alternative source of food to survive. It will be foolish for man to justify his conduct because it is the same as of uncultured wild animals. Man is the fittest creature not because of brute force, but due to his mental and spiritual qualities. These qualities will further develop, not by following the animal instincts, but by following the path of wisdom.
Some young men have the fear that without taking to animal foods and drinks, they will not be able to rise high in llife. There can be nothing more wrong than this. In the recent past, we have the examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Radha Krishnan, Mr. Bernard Shaw, Sir Stafford Crips etc. These gentlemen were perfect vegetarians and each of them not only rose to the highest status in his field, but was respected internationally. They had tremendous capacity to work.