The biggest strength of Indian traditions is an ‘indifference to differences.’ I may not eat meat, but I would not mind somebody eating the same across the table. Indian tradition does not talk of acceptance or tolerance, which by connotation means that one is superior and what I am tolerating is inferior. Homo sapiens have an unequal and complicated relationship with rest of the animal kingdom which has evolved over many million years. Animals come into an equation with humans in myriad ways: as food, as pets, for entertainment (sports which may or may not involve killing the animals), as experimental animals in pharmaceutical and medical industry, as beasts of burden, and as war animals. The number of animals used in the medicinal industry is too mind boggling to even mention. We are enjoying the longevity provided by the medical and pharmaceutical industry because of experimentation and trials on an infinitude of animals. Many brilliant surgical careers launch in animal labs.
Food animals are too numerous to mention. The point is, do we need to eat animals to survive? There are many arguments in favour of consuming meat- nutrition content being one of them. A well-rounded vegetarian diet is equal in nutritional content to a non-vegetarian one. A major argument is that land agricultural produce would not be enough to feed the ever-increasing population. Again, this is arguable. The land on Earth is enough to feed the humans with crops many times over its present population.
Low cost food is another. The price of meat produce in shops is low because the agricultural industry spreads the cost elsewhere. Timothy clack in ‘Ancestral Roots’ writes that plants allowed us to live, but meat was probably important in evolution. However, the vegetarian option is seven times more efficient than the non-vegetarian option. Feeding livestock with foods to which they are not normally adapted, like corn to livestock, most of it being beef cattle, has a consequence of converting lands for agriculture to produce corn. Today, in the US, 60% of the corn is a feed for livestock. Lands converted to feed the livestock and process their excretions are a great cause of land, water, and air pollution. Marine life also disappears by a process of Eutrophication, seen in 50% of lakes in USA and Europe. Some authorities, in fact, have put the blame of global warming on animal farming.
So, one should not really make an argument for availability of meat at a low cost as a reason to universal non-vegetarianism. The meat industry has become the biggest threat to the continued existence of modern humans. At any time, the global agriculture industry is feeding 1.1 billion pigs, 1.8 billion sheep and goats and 15.4 billion chickens. Meat industry consumes more water as compared to the agricultural practices. Each pound of steer meat from a US feedlot requires about 10,000 litres of water. A pound of potato requires about 50 litres of water. Livestock drink about half the water consumed in the USA. There are such kind of serious arguments against non-vegetarianism, nobody takes them seriously.
The exclusive link of holiness to vegetarianism does not exist in our scriptures. Most scriptures and our deities too consumed meat. Our saints like Ramana Maharishi never made vegetarianism mandatory. It is only an argument to badger the traditionalists into silence by showing scriptural references. It would be simply foolish to even expect that the world will stop eating meat. The percentage of vegetarians in almost all countries of the world is in single digits; like 3% in the US and 6% for Europe! India stands between 29-40%, which is clearly an outlier. The choice rests with the individuals.
Swami Vivekananda spoke at length on meat consumption and he was aware that it was a highly controversial topic. He says: ‘So long as man shall have to live a Rajasika (active) life, there is no other way except through meat-eating. Rather let those belonging to the upper ten, who do not earn their livelihood by manual labour, not take meat; but the forcing of vegetarianism upon those who must earn their bread by labouring day and night is one of the causes of the loss of our national freedom. All liking for fish and meat disappears when pure Sattva is highly developed. And where such indications are absent, and yet you find men siding with the nonkilling party, know it for a certainty that here there is either hypocrisy or a show of religion. The injunction of the Hindu Shastras which lays down the rule that food, like many other things, must be different as per the difference of birth and profession is the sound conclusion.’
Indian scriptures, including the Gita, stress on moderation rather that complete abstention regarding dietary practices like in almost all other areas. Eating of meat is not a sin or a crime or even an offence in Hinduism. Vegetarianism is the recommended and prescribed diet but it is not mandatory.
This Manusmriti quote (5.56) summarises the Dharmic stand on non-vegetarianism:
na māṃsa bhakṣaṇe doṣo na madye na ca maithune |
pravṛttir eṣā bhūtānām nivṛittis-tu mahā phale ||
There is no sin in eating meat, in (drinking) spirituous liquor, and in intercourse, for that is the natural way of beings, but abstention brings great rewards.
The use and abuse of animals is part of the evolutionary game, and there is no way we can avoid that. We have reached where we are because of exploitation and selective killing of other species. We cannot apply moral standards and ethics in our behavior towards them selectively. We have variable standards; and in such circumstances to talk about cruelty of Jallikattu while having a chicken tikka masala does not make any sense. The Jain monks probably have some moral authority to talk about cruelty to animals; but for most of us, we must accept that humans are a branch of evolution with some distinct exploitative advantages towards survival, and we make use of it. It is good to have some moral standards in dealing with animal use; but they will always be fluid, grey, and interpretable. A totalitarian view which goes against common sense as the world will never stop eating meat. Also, they are fighting evolutionary principles and hence is a lost battle from the word go. I believe all animals are holy, not only the cow; but my tradition says that if someone wants to eat them, feel free. But do not throw scriptures at me. Do not generalize the stand of few unaware individuals to the entire Hindu Right.
RANDOM MUSINGS 