"'Yudhishthira said, "Alas, those cruel men, who, discarding diverse kinds
of food, covet only flesh, are really like great Rakshasas! Alas, they do
not relish diverse kinds of cakes and diverse sorts of potherbs and
various species of Khanda with juicy flavour so much as they do flesh! My
understanding, for this reason, becomes stupefied in this matter. I
think, when such is the case, that, there is nothing which can compare
with flesh in the matter of taste. I desire, therefore, O puissant one,
to hear what the merits are of abstention from flesh, and the demerits
that attach to the eating of flesh, O chief of Bharata's race. Thou art
conversant with every duty. Do thou discourse to me in full agreeably to
the ordinances on duty, on this subject. Do tell me what, indeed, is
edible and what inedible. Tell me, O grandsire, what is flesh, of what
substances it is, the merits that attach to abstention from it, and what
the demerits are that attach to the eating of flesh."
"'Bhishma said, "It is even so, O mighty-armed one, as thou sayest. There
is nothing on earth that is superior to flesh in point of taste. There is
nothing that is more beneficial then flesh to persons that are lean, or
weak, or afflicted with disease, or addicted to sexual congress or
exhausted with travel. Flesh speedily increases strength. It produces
great development. There is no food, O scorcher of foes, that is superior
to flesh. But, O delighter of the Kurus, the merits are great that attach
to men that abstain from it. Listen to me as I discourse to thee on it.
That man who wished to increase his own flesh by the flesh of another
living creature is such that there is none meaner and more cruel than he.
In this world there is nothing that is dearer to a creature than his
life. Hence (instead of taking that valuable possession), one should show
compassion to the lives of others as one does to one's own life. Without
doubt, O son, flesh has its origin in the vital seed. There is great
demerit attaching to its eating, as, indeed, there is merit in abstaining
from it. One does not, however, incur any fault by eating flesh
sanctified according to the ordinances of the Vedas. The audition is
heard that animals were created for sacrifice. They who eat flesh in any
other way are said to follow the Rakshasa practice. Listen to me as I
tell thee what the ordinance is that has been laid down for the
Kshatriyas. They do not incur any fault by eating flesh that has been
acquired by expenditure of prowess. All deer of the wilderness were
dedicated to the deities and the Pitris in days of old, O king, by
Agastya. Hence, the hunting of deer is not censured. There can be no
hunting without risk of one's own life. There is equality of risk between
the slayer and the slain. Either the animal is killed or it kills the
hunter. Hence, O Bharata, even royal sages betake themselves to the
practice of hunting. By such conduct they do not become stained with sin.
Indeed, the practice is not regarded as sinful. There is nothing, O
delighter of the Kurus, that is equal in point of merit, either here or
hereafter, to the practice of compassion to all living creatures. The man
of compassion has no fear. Those harmless men that are endued with
compassion have both this world and the next. Persons conversant with
duty say that that Religion is worthy of being called Religion which has
abstention from cruelty for its indication. The man of cleansed soul
should do only such acts as have compassion for their soul. That flesh
which is dedicated in sacrifices performed in honour of the deities and
the Pitris is called Havi (and, as such, is worthy of being eaten). That
man who is devoted to compassion and who behaves with compassion towards
others, has no fear to entertain from any creature. It is heard that all
creatures abstain from causing any fear unto such a creature. Whether he
is wounded or fallen down or prostrated or weakened or bruised, in
whatever state he may be, all creatures protect him. Indeed, they do so,
under all circumstances, whether he is on even or uneven ground. Neither
snakes nor wild animals, neither Pisachas nor Rakshasas, ever slay him.
When circumstances of fear arise, he becomes freed from fear who frees
others from situations of fear. There has never been, nor will there ever
be, a gift that is superior to the gift of life. It is certain that there
is nothing dearer to oneself than one's life. Death, O Bharata, is a
calamity or evil unto all creatures. When the time comes for Death, a
trembling of the whole frame is seen in all creatures. Enduring birth in
the uterus, decrepitude and afflictions of diverse kinds, in this ocean
of the world, living creatures may be seen to be continually going
forward and coming back. Every creature is afflicted by death. While
dwelling in the uterus, all creatures are cooked in the fluid juices,
that are alkaline and sour and bitter, of urine and phlegm and
faeces,--juices that produce painful sensations and are difficult to
bear. There in the uterus, they have to dwell in a state of helplessness
and are even repeatedly torn and pierced. They that are covetous of meat
are seen to be repeatedly cooked in the uterus in such a state of
helplessness. Attaining to diverse kinds of birth, they are cooked in the
hell called Kumbhipaka. They are assailed and slain, and in this way have
to travel repeatedly. There is nothing so dear to one as one's life when
one comes to this world. Hence, a person of cleansed soul should be
compassionate to all living creatures. That man, O king, who abstains
from every kind of meat from his birth, without doubt, acquires a large
space in Heaven. They who eat the flesh of animals who are desirous of
life, are themselves eaten by the animals they eat, without doubt. Even
this is my opinion. 'Since he hath eaten me, I shall eat him in
return,'--even this, O Bharata, constitutes the character as Mansa of
Mansa.[525] The slayer is always slain. After him the eater meets with
the same fate. He who acts with hostility towards another (in this life)
becomes the victim of similar acts done by that other. Whatever acts one
does in whatever bodies, one has to suffer the consequences thereof in
those bodies.[526] Abstention from cruelty is the highest Religion.
Abstention from cruelty is the highest self-control. Abstention from
cruelty is the highest gift. Abstention from cruelty is the highest
penance. Abstention from cruelty is the highest sacrifice. Abstention
from cruelty is the highest puissance. Abstention from cruelty is the
highest friend. Abstention from cruelty is the highest happiness.
Abstention from cruelty is the highest truth. Abstention from cruelty is
the highest Sruti. Gifts made in all sacrifices, ablutions performed in
all sacred waters, and the merit that one acquires from making all kinds
of gifts mentioned in the scriptures,--all these do not come up to
abstention from cruelty (in point of the merit that attaches to it). The
penances of a man that abstains from cruelty are inexhaustible. The man
that abstains from cruelty is regarded as always performing sacrifices.
The man that abstains from cruelty is the father and mother of all
creatures. Even these, O chief of Kuru's race, are some of the merits of
abstention from cruelty. Altogether, the merits that attach to it are so
many that they are incapable of being exhausted even if one were to speak
for a hundred years."'"