beings is thus inculcated by Buddha, in a sermon addressed to a number
of women (belonging to a class of hunters) whose husbands were then
engaged on one of their predatory excursions:--
“He who is humane does not kill; he is ever able to preserve [his
own?] life. This principle is imperishable. Whosoever observes it,
no calamity shall betide that man. Politeness, indifference to
worldly things, hurting no one, without place for annoyance--this
is the character of the Brahma Heaven. Ever exercising love towards
the infirm; pure, according to the teaching of Buddha; knowing when
sufficient has been had; knowing when to stop.
“There are eleven advantages which attend the man who practises
compassion, and is tender to all that lives: his body is always
in health (happy); he is blessed with peaceful sleep, and when
engaged in study he is also composed; he has no evil dreams, he is
protected by Heaven (Devas) and loved by men; he is unmolested by
poisonous things, and escapes the violence of war; he is unharmed
by fire or water; he is successful wherever he lives, and, when
dead, goes to the Heaven of Brahma.”
When he had uttered these words, both men and women were admitted into
the company of his disciples, and obtained rest.
There was, in times gone by, a certain mighty King, called Ho-meh
(_love-darkness_), who ruled in a certain district where no tidings of
Buddha or his merciful doctrine had yet been heard; but the religious
practices were the usual ones of sacrifice and prayer to the gods for
protection. Now it happened that the King’s mother, being sick, the
physicians having vainly tried their medicine, all the wise men were
called to consult as to the best means of restoring her health.... On
the King asking them [the Brahman priests] what should be done, they
replied ... sacrifices of a hundred beasts of different kinds should
be offered on the four hills (or to the four quarters), with a young
child, as a crowning oblation to Heaven. [Here follows a description
of the King ordering a hundred head of Elephants, Horses, Oxen, and
Sheep to be driven along the road from the Eastern Gate towards the
place of sacrifice, and how their piteous cries rang through heaven
and earth.--_Editor’s Note._] On this Buddha, moved with compassion,
came to the spot, and preached a sermon on “Love to all that Live,” and
added these words:--
“If a man live a hundred years, and engage the whole of his time
and attention in religious offerings to the gods, sacrificing
Elephants and Horses, and other life, all this is not equal to _one
act of pure love in saving life_.”
See _Texts from the Buddhist Canon, commonly known as Dhammapada--with
accompanying Narratives--Translated from the Chinese_, by Samuel Beal,
Professor of Chinese, University College, London--Trübner, 1878: and
the similar scene in _The Light of Asia_, where Buddha interposes at
the moment of a religious sacrifice:--
“But Buddha softly said,
‘Let him not strike, great King!’ and therewith loosed
The victim’s bonds, none staying him, so great
His presence was. Then, craving leave, he spake
Of life which all can take but none can give,
Life, which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all
Where Pity is, for Pity makes the world
Soft to the Weak, and noble for the Strong.
Unto the dumb lips of his flock he lent
Sad pleading words, shewing how man, who prays
For mercy to the Gods, is merciless,
Being as God to those: albeit all Life
Is linked and kin, and what we slay have given
Meek tribute of the milk and wool, and set
Fast trust upon the hands that murder them.
* * * * *
“Nor, spake he, shall one wash his spirit clean
_By blood_; nor gladden gods, being good, with blood;[288]
Nor bribe them, being evil: nay, nor lay
Upon the brow of innocent bound beasts
One hair’s weight of that answer all must give
For all things done amiss or wrongfully,
Alone--each for himself--reckoning with that
The fixed arithmic of the Universe,
Which meteth good for good and ill for ill,
Measure for measure, unto deeds, words, thoughts.
* * * * *
“While still our Lord went on, teaching how fair
This earth were, if all living things be linked
In friendliness, and common use of foods,
Bloodless and pure; the golden grain, bright fruits,
Sweet herbs which grow for all, the waters wan,
Sufficient drinks and meats--which when these heard,
The might of gentleness so conquered them,
The priests themselves scattered their altar-flames
And flung away the steel of sacrifice:
And through the land next day passed a decree
Proclaimed by criers, and in this wise graved
On rock and column: ‘Thus the King’s will is:--
There hath been slaughter for the Sacrifice,
And slaying for the Meat, but henceforth none
Shall spill the blood of life, nor taste of flesh,
Seeing that Knowledge grows, and Life is one,
And mercy cometh to the merciful.’”[289]
See also the annexed extracts from the Buddhist Sacred Scriptures,
written probably about the third century B.C.:--
_“The Short Paragraphs on Conduct.”--The Kûla Sîlam._
1. “Now wherein, Vâsettha, is his [the true disciple’s] Conduct
good? Herein, O Vâsettha, that putting away the Murder of that
which lives, he abstains from Destroying Life. The cudgel and
the sword he lays aside; and, full of Modesty and Pity, he is
compassionate and kind to all beings that have life.
“This is the kind of Goodness that he has.
[After strict prohibitions of Robbery and Unchastity, Gautama
Buddha proceeds.]
4. “Putting away Lying, he abstains from speaking Falsehood.
He speaks Truth. From the Truth he never swerves. Faithful and
trustworthy, he injures not his fellow-men by deceit.
“This is the kind of Goodness that he has.
5. “Putting away Slander, he abstains from Calumny. What he learns
here he repeats not elsewhere, to raise a quarrel against the
people here. What he learns elsewhere, &c. Thus he lives as a
binder together of those who are divided, an encourager of those
who are friends, impassioned for Peace, a speaker of words that
make for Peace.
“This, too, &c.
6. “Putting away Bitterness of Speech, he abstains from harsh
language. Whatever word is humane, pleasant to the ear, lovely,
reaching to the heart, urbane--such are the words he speaks.
7. “Putting away Foolish Talk, he abstains from Vain Conversation,
&c.
8. “He abstains from Injuring any Herb [uselessly] or any Animal.
He takes but one meal a day, abstaining from food at night-time, or
at the wrong time, &c.
10. “He abstains from Bribery, Cheating, Fraud, and Crooked Ways.
“This, too, &c.
11. “He refrains from Maiming, Killing, Imprisoning,
Highway-Robbery, Plundering Villages, or obtaining money by threats
of Violence.
* * * * *
1. “And he lets his mind pervade one quarter of the World with
thoughts of Love, and so the second, and so the third, and so
the fourth. And thus the whole Wide World above, below, around,
and everywhere, does he continue to pervade with heart of
Love--far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure.
2. “Just, Vâsettha, as a mighty Trumpeter makes himself heard, and
that without difficulty, in all the four directions, even so, of
all Things that have Shape or Life, there is not one that he passes
by or leaves aside; but he regards them all with mind set free, and
deep-felt love.
“Verily this, Vâsettha, is the way to a state of union with Brahmâ.
3. “And he lets his mind pervade all parts of the World with
thoughts of Pity, Sympathy, and Equanimity.
* * * * *
9. “When he had thus spoken, the young Brâhmans, Vâsettha and
Bhâradvâga, addressed the Blessed One, and said:--
‘Most excellent, Lord, are the words of thy mouth, most excellent!
Just as if a man were to set up that which is thrown down, or
were to reveal that which is hidden away, or were to point out
the right road to him who has gone astray, or were to bring a
Lamp into the Darkness, so that those who have eyes can see
eternal forms--just even so, Lord, has the Truth been made known
to us, in many a figure, by the Blessed One. And we, even we,
betake ourselves, Lord, to the Blessed One, as our Refuge, to the
Truth and to the Brotherhood. May the Blessed One accept us as
disciples, as true believers from this time forth, so long as life
endures!’”--_Buddhist Suttas_, Translated from Pâli, by T. W. Rhys
Davids. _Sacred Books of the East._ Ed. by Max Müller, Clarendon
Press, Oxford. 1881.
As for the older (sacerdotal) religionism of the Peninsula--that of
Brahma--the force of Truth obliges us here to remark that, while the
great mass of the Hindus continue to shrink with disgust and abhorrence
from the Slaughter-house and from the sanguinary diet of their
conquerors and rulers, Mohammedan and Christian, the richer classes,
and even many of the Brahmins and priests have long conformed, in great
measure at least, to Western dietetic practices; and (the flesh of the
Cow or Ox excepted), no more than other religionists do they scruple to
violate the laws of their Sacred Books--the _Vedas_--which, however,
are not so _humane_ as the teaching of the great Founder of Buddhism,
as preserved in the Buddhist Sacred Scriptures, the _Tripataka_, being
more essentially ritual and ceremonial than its popular off-shoot.
Yet there are traces in the sacred writings of Hinduism of a strong
consciousness of the irreligionism of feeding upon slaughtered animals,
as in the Laws of Manu, their Sacred Legislator, where it is laid down
that:--
“The man who forsakes not the Laws, and eats not flesh-meat like
a blood-thirsty demon, shall attain good-will in this world, and
shall not be afflicted with Maladies.”--(Quoted in the Works of Sir
Wm. Jones, _vol. iii., 206_.)
“The man who perceives in his own soul the Supreme Good present
in all beings acquires equanimity towards them all, and shall be
absorbed, at last, in the highest Essence--even in that of the
Almighty himself.”--_Conclusion of the Laws of Manu._
It is superfluous to insist upon the fact that inhabitants of the
hotter and, in particular, of the tropical regions of the globe
have, as a matter of course, even less valid pretexts for resorting
to _butchering_ than have the natives of colder climates; and that
proportionally, therefore, is the reprobation to which they are
obnoxious. (See, among other recent testimony, that of Shib Chunder
Bose in his interesting book--_The Hindus as they Are_. London: Ed.
Stanford, 1881). The writer has usefully exposed the yearly-increasing
evils to India from the example of English dietetic habits.
IV.
OVID.
The original (the peculiar beauties of which cannot easily be
represented in a modern idiom) of the English version already given in
this work, with the concluding verses omitted in that translation, is
here subjoined:--
Primusque animalia mensis
Arcuit imponi: primus quoque talibus ora
Docta quidem solvit, sed non et credita, verbis:--
“Parcite, mortales, dapibus temerare nefandis
Corpora. _Sunt Fruges; sunt deducentia ramos
Pondere Poma suo, tumidæque in vitibus Uvæ.
Sunt Herbæ Dulces; sunt, quæ mitescere flammâ,
Mollirique queant. Nec vobis lacteus Humor
Eripitur, nec Mella thymi redolentia florem.
Prodiga divitias alimentaque mitia Tellus
Suggerit: atque epulas sine Cæde et Sanguine præbet._
Carne Feræ sedant jejunia; _nec tamen Omnes_.
Quippe Equus, et Pecudes, Armentaque gramine vivunt.
At quibus ingenium est immansuetumque ferumque--
Armeniæ Tigres, iracundique Leones,
Cumque Lupis Ursi--dapibus cum sanguine gaudent.
Heu quantum Scelus est--in viscera viscera condi,
Congestoque avidum pinguescere corpore corpus,
Alteriusque animantem animantis vivere leto!
Scilicet in tantis opibus, quas optima Matrum
Terra parit, _nil to nisi tristia mandere sævo
Vulnera dente juvat, ritusque referre Cyclopum?
Nec, nisi perdideris alium, placare voracis
Et male morati poteris jejunia ventris?_
At vetus illa Ætas, cui fecimus Aurea nomen,
Fœtibus arboreis et, quas humus educat, Herbis
Fortunata fuit: nee polluit ora Cruore.
Tunc et Aves tutas movere per aëra pennas,
Et Lepus impavidus mediis erravit in agris:
Nec sua credulitas piscem suspenderat hamo.
Cuncta sine insidiis, nullamque timentia Fraudem,
Plenaque Pacis erant. Postquam non utilis auctor
Victibus invidit (quisquis fuit ille virorum),
Corporeasque dapes avidam demersit in alvum.
Fecit iter sceleri; primâque e cæde Ferarum
Incaluisse putem maculatum sanguine ferrum.
Idque satis fuerat; nostrumque petentia letum
Corpora missa neci, salvâ pietate, fatemur:
Sed quàm danda neci, tàm non epulanda, fuerunt.
* * * * *
Quid meruistis, Oves, placidum pecus, inque tuendos
Natum homines, pleno quæ fertis in ubere nectar?
Mollia quæ nobis vestras velamina Lanas
Præbetis, Vitâque magis quàm morte juvatis.
Quid meruêre Boves--animal sine fraude dolisque
Innocuum, simplex, natum tolerare labores?
_Immemor est demùm, nee Frugum, munere dignus,
Qui potuit, curvi dempto modo pondere aratri,
Ruricolam mactare suum: qui trita labore
Illa, quibus toties durum renovaverat Arvum,
Tot dederat messes, percussit colla securi._”
“Nec satis est quòd tale nefas committitur: _ipsos
Inscripsêre Deos sceleri_, numenque Supernum
Cæde Laboriferi credunt gaudere Juvenci!
Victima labe carens, et præstantissima formâ,
(Nam placuisse nocet), vittis præsignis et auro,
Sistitur ante aras, auditque ignara precantem:
Imponique suæ videt, inter cornua, fronti
Quas coluit fruges, percussaque sanguine cultros
Inficit in liquidâ prævisos forsitan undâ.
Protinus ereptas viventi pectore fibras
Inspiciunt: mentesque Deûm scrutantur in illis![290]
“Unde fames Homini vetitorum tanta ciborum?
Audetis vesci, _genus O Mortale_! Quod, oro,
Ne facite: et monitis animos advertite nostris.
Cumque Boûm dabitis cæsorum membra palato
_Mandere vos vestros scite et sentite Colonos_.
* * * * *
“Neve Thyestêis cumulemur viscera mensis.
_Quàm male consuescit, quàm se parat ille cruori.
Impius humano, Vituli qui guttura cultro
Rumpit, et immotas præbet mugitibus aures!
Aut qui vagitus similes puerilibus Hœdum
Edentem jugulare potest; aut Alite vesci
Cui dedit ipse cibos--Quantum est, quod desit in istis
Ad plenum facinus! Quò transitus inde paratur!_
“Bos aret, aut mortem senioribus imputet annis:
Horriferum contra Borean Ovis arma ministret;
Ubera dent saturæ manibus præstanda Capellæ.
Retia cum pedicis, laqueosque, artesque dolosas
Tollite: nec Volucrem viscatâ fallite virgâ,
Nec formidatis Cervos eludite pinnis,
Nec celate cibis uncos fallacibus hamos.
Perdite, si qua nocent: verùm hæc quòque perdite tantùm:
Ora vacent epulis, alimentaque congrua carpant.”
_Metamorphoseon_, _Lib._ xv. 72-142, 462-478.
Nor is this the only passage in his writings in which the Pagan poet
proves himself to have been not without that humaneness and feeling so
rare alike in non-Christian and in Christian poetry. In the charming
story of the visit of the disguised and incarnate Celestials to the
cottage of the pious peasants, Philemon and Baucis, Ovid takes the
opportunity to present an alluring picture of the innocent fruits which
were placed before the divine guests--a picture which, probably, was
present to Milton in recording the similar hospitality of Eve.
Among the fragrant dishes--“savoury fruits, of taste to please true
appetite”--appear Figs, Nuts, Dates, Plums, Grapes, Apples, Olives,
Radishes, Onions, and Endive, with Honey, Eggs, and Milk:--
“Ponitur hìc bicolor sinceræ bacca Minervæ,
Conditaque in liquidâ Corna autumnalia fæce:
Intubaque et Radix, et Lactis massa Coacti:
Ovaque, non acri leviter versata Favillâ.
* * * * *
Hìc Nux, hìc mista est rugosis Carica Palmis,
Prunaque, et in patulis redolentia Mala canistris,
Et de purpureis collectæ vitibus Uvæ.
Candidus in medio Favus est: super omnia vultus
Accessêre boni.” ...
We are not surprised, however, that, notwithstanding all this variety
of sufficient foods, ignorant peasants, imitating the vicious examples
of their rich neighbours, thought it due to “hospitality” to sacrifice
life; and they were on the point of slaughtering the only _non-human_
being belonging to them--a Goose, the “guardian of the cottage”--when
the heavenly visitants intervene, and forbid the unnecessary
barbarism:--
“Unicus anser erat, minimæ custodia villæ,
Quem Dîs hospitibus domini mactare parabant.
Ille celer pennâ tardos ætate fatigat,
Eluditque diu. Tandemque est visus ad ipsos
Confugisse Deos. Superi vetuêre necari:
‘Dîque sumus,’” &c.
When the rest of the inhabitants of Phrygia, were, for their
wickedness, destroyed by indignant Heaven, the two old peasants, we
may add, found safety from the general _Deluge_. (_Metam._ viii.
664-688).[291]
It may be noted in this place that the great “Epicurean” poet, Horace
(Ovid’s contemporary), _bon-vivant_ though he was, and apparently
uninspired by humanitarian feeling, yet now and again expresses his
conviction of the superiority of the Fruit to the Flesh banquet, and of
the greater compatibility of the former with the poetic genius. E.g.
_Carmina_ I., 31. _Ad Apollinem_:--
_Me pascunt Olivæ
Me Cichorea levesque Malvæ._
(“Olives, Endives, and easily-digested Mallows are my fare.”)
_Satire II._ 2. “Frugality.:”--
“Quæ virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere Parvo,
* * * * *
Discite non inter lances mensasque nitentes,
Cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus, et cum
Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat,
Verum hic impransi mecum disquirite--
_Male Vervum examinat omnis
Corruptus judex_.
* * * * *
Cum labor extuderit fastidia, siccus, inanis
Sperne cibum vilem: nisi Hymettia mella Falerno
Ne biberis diluta....
_Cum sale Panis
Latrantem stomachum bene leniet._...
_Non in caro nidore voluptas
Summa sed in te ipso. Tu pulmentaria qucere
Sudando_: pinguem vitiis albumque neque ostrea,
Nec scarus aut poterit peregrina juvare lagois.
* * * * *
_Num vesceris istâ
Quam laudas, plumâ? Cocto num adest honor idem?_
* * * * *
At vos
Præsentes Austri, coquite horum obsonia.
* * * * *
Ergo
Si quis nunc mergos suaves edixerit assos,
Parebit pravi docilis Romana juventus.
* * * * *
Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quæ quantaque secum
Afferat. Imprimis valeas bene....”
His arraignment of the rich glutton, who obliges and allows the poor
man to starve in the midst of plenty, is worthy of the morality of
Seneca:--
“Ergo,
Quod superat, non est melius quo insumere possis?
_Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite?_”
V.
MUSONIUS (1ST CENTURY, A.D.),
a stoic writer of great repute with his contemporaries, son of a
Roman Eques, was born at Volsinii (Bolsena), in Etruria, at the end
of the reign of Augustus. He was banished by Nero, who especially
hated the professors of the _Porch_; but by Vespasian he was held in
extraordinary honour when the rest of the philosophers were expelled
from Rome. The time of his death is uncertain. He was the author of
various philosophical works which are characterised by Suïdas as
“distinguished writings of a highly philosophic nature,” who also
attributes to him (but on uncertain evidence) letters to Apollonius
of Tyana. We are indebted for knowledge of his opinions to a work (of
unknown authorship) entitled _Memoirs of Musonius the Philosopher_. It
is from this work that Stobæus (_Anthologion_), Aulus Gellius, Arrian,
and others seem to have borrowed, in quoting the _dicta_ of the great
Stoic teacher. All the extant fragments of his writings are carefully
collected by Peerlkamp (Haarlem, 1822). (See also Herr Ed. Baltzer’s
valuable monograph, _Musonius: Charakterbild aus Der Römischen
Kaiserzeit_. Nordhausen, 1871):--
“On diet he used to speak often and very earnestly, as of a matter
important in itself and in its effects. For he thought that
continence in meats and drinks is the beginning and groundwork of
temperance. Once, forsaking his usual line of argument, he spoke as
follows:--
“‘As we should prefer cheap fare to costly, and that which is easy
to that which is hard to procure, so also, that which is akin
to man to that which is not so. Akin to us is that from plants,
grains, and such other vegetable products as nourish him well;
also what is derived from (other) animals--not slaughtered, but
otherwise serviceable. Of these foods the most suitable are such
as we may use at once without fire, for such are readiest to hand.
Such are fruits in season, and some herbs, milk, cheese, and
honeycombs. Moreover such as need fire, and belong to the classes
of grains or herbs, are also not unsuitable, but are all, without
exception, akin to man.’
“Eating of flesh-meat he declared to be _brutal_, and adapted to
savage animals. It is heavier, he said, and hindering thought and
intelligence; the vapour arising from it is turbid and darkens the
soul, so that they who partake of it abundantly are seen to be
slower of apprehension. As man is [at his best] most nearly related
to the Gods of all beings on earth, so, also, his _food_ should be
most like to that of the Gods. They, he said, are content with the
steams that rise from earth and waters, and we shall take the food
most like to theirs, if we take that which is _lightest and purest_.
“So our soul also will be pure and clear, and, being so, will be
best and wisest, as Heracleitus judges when he says the clear
soul is wisest and best. As it is, said Musonius, we are fed far
worse than the irrational beings; for they, though they are driven
fiercely by appetite as by a scourge, and pounce upon their food,
still are devoid of cunning and contrivance in regard to their
fare--being satisfied with what comes in their way, seeking only
to be filled and nothing further. But we invent manifold arts and
devices the more to sweeten the pleasure of food and to deceive the
gullet. Nay, to such a pitch of daintiness and greediness have we
come, that some have composed treatises, as of music and medicine,
so also of cookery, which greatly increase the pleasure in the
gullet, but ruin the health. At any rate, you may see that those
who are fastidious in the choice of foods are far more sickly in
body--some even, like craving women, loathing customary foods, and
having their stomachs ruined. Hence, as good-for-nothing steel
continually needs sharpening, so their stomachs at table need the
continual whet of some strong tasting food.... Hence, too, it is
our duty to eat for life, not for pleasure (only), at least if we
are to follow the excellent saying of Socrates, that, while most
men lived to eat, he ate to live. For, surely, no one, who aspires
to the character of a virtuous man, will deign to resemble the
many, and live for eating’s sake as they do, hunting from every
quarter the pleasure which comes from food.
“Moreover, that God, who made mankind, provided them with meats
and drinks for preservation, not for pleasure, will appear from
this. When food is most especially performing its proper function
in digestion and assimilation, then it gives no pleasure to the man
at all--yet we are then fed by it and strengthened. _Then_ we have
no sensation of pleasure, and yet this time is longer than that in
which we are eating. But if it were for pleasure that God contrived
our food, we ought to derive pleasure from it throughout this
longer time, and not merely at the passing moment of consumption.
_Yet, nevertheless, for that brief moment of enjoyment we make
provision of ten thousand dainties_; we sail the sea to its
furthest bounds; _cooks are more sought after than husbandmen_.
Some lavish on dinners the price of estates, and that though their
bodies derive no benefit from the costliness of the viands.