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video: ahimsacows
Therefore Vrindavana is called Vrajabhumi, “where there are many cows.” It is called Gokula. Gokula. Go means cows, and kula means group. Gokula. Govardhana. Govardhana Hill. Because the cows were grazing on the hill, and profuse grass was being grown, and they are enjoying. So there should be arrangement. Just like here we see, there are so many open fields and the cows are grazing.
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.4
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
London, November 25, 1973
I have been living in Wales for over 30 years and i do not know of this Ahimsa Cow Sanctuary.
Back in the 1980’s i was serving at Bhaktivedanta Manor on the Cow Protection project, although it was self-evident at that time i think no-one knew what the correct model for cow protection was. The project was just an organised chaotic mess. And my own perception of Cow Protection in Iskcon is that they remain none the wiser on how to practice Cow Protection as a successful project and model.
I have spent many years reading all Srila Prabhupada’s extensive instructions on Cow Protection and the ramifications of Violence through the Foods industry. Especially in one class Srila Prabhupada gave at Boston in 1969 He mentioned in that Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution — Boston, April 26, 1969:
“Guest (2): No, he was saying is the relationship, is the reason why we’re not eating meat due to the fact that once we were animals and now, we’ve progressed to human nature, to human form? Does that have any relationship?
Prabhupāda: “Yes. The nature is that everyone should eat another animal or another living creature for existence. That is the law of nature. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam: “One living entity is the life of another living entity.” That is a fact. Just like sahastānām ahastānam. Those who have got hands—that means men—for them, ahastāni, means the animals who have got no hands. And apadānanaṁ catuṣ-padām: “And the four-legged animals, they eat the grass, who cannot move.” So grass has got life, as the animal has got life. We have got life. So this is… Nūnaṁ mahatāṁ tatra: “The strong is eating the weak.” So this is the law of nature. We are eating the grains and fruits. They have got also life. It is not that those who are vegetarians, or eating grains and fruit, they are not eating life. They are also eating life. But the bhakti-yoga process is that, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that the devotees, they take prasādam. We have got arrangement of distributing prasādam in every Sunday. Prasādam means the foodstuff which is offered to Kṛṣṇa and then you take. So what Kṛṣṇa wants, that is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati (BG 9.26). Therefore, we are not propagating the philosophy of ahiṁsā, or nonviolence, because in some way or other, there is violence, either you take fruit or grain or animal. But the principle is that you have to take prasādam, the foodstuff which is offered to Kṛṣṇa, and then eat. So these things, fruits, grains, are accepted by Kṛṣṇa. We offer to Kṛṣṇa and then eat them. This is the philosophy. Not that because we are eating fruits, therefore we are getting pious, and because…” (break in conversation).
“And the four-legged animals, they eat the grass, who cannot move.” So grass has got life, as the animal has got life. We have got life……”
“Therefore, we are not propagating the philosophy of ahiṁsā, or nonviolence, because in some way or other, there is violence, either you take fruit or grain or animal.”
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I think if you read this lecture carefully it is possible to understand that we are not aiming for a pious styled diet by being vegan/vegetarian. Srila Prabhupada says “Not that because we are eating fruits, therefore we are getting pious……..” Becoming pious is not a devotee goal or directive. And also trying to become Ahimsa through diet is also not a goal nor a philosophical aim for a devotee. We are not preaching Ahimsa, period. Srila Prabhupada agrees that the reason for not preaching Ahimsa is because there is violence either in fruits, grains and animals. This is very significant that there is an equalisation of violence in fruits, grains and animals as a broad spectrum of foods. Some may argue that eating fruits is less violent than eating grains and meats, however this is not the case in terms of violence.
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Excerpted from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.15.
“Another significant phrase in this verse is nātihiṁsreṇa (“with minimum violence or sacrifice of life”). Even if a devotee has to commit violence, it should not be done beyond what is necessary. Sometimes the question is put before us: “You ask us not to eat meat, but you are eating vegetables. Do you think that is not violence?” The answer is that eating vegetables is violence, and vegetarians are also committing violence against other living entities because vegetables also have life. Nondevotees are killing cows, goats and so many other animals for eating purposes, and a devotee, who is vegetarian, is also killing. But here, significantly, it is stated that every living entity has to live by killing another entity; that is the law of nature. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam: one living entity is the life for another living entity. But for a human being, that violence should be committed only as much as necessary.
A human being is not to eat anything which is not offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santaḥ: one becomes freed from all sinful reactions by eating foodstuffs which are offered to Yajña, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee therefore eats only prasāda, or foodstuffs offered to the Supreme Lord, and Kṛṣṇa says that when a devotee offers Him foodstuffs from the vegetable kingdom, with devotion, He eats that. A devotee is to offer to Kṛṣṇa foodstuffs prepared from vegetables. If the Supreme Lord wanted foodstuffs prepared from animal food, the devotee could offer this, but He does not order to do that.
We have to commit violence; that is a natural law. We should not, however, commit violence extravagantly, but only as much as ordered by the Lord. Arjuna engaged in the art of killing, and although killing is, of course, violence, he killed the enemy simply on Kṛṣṇa’s order. In the same way, if we commit violence as it is necessary, by the order of the Lord, that is called nātihiṁsā. We cannot avoid violence, for we are put into a conditional life in which we have to commit violence, but we should not commit more violence than necessary or than ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
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Although Srila Prabhupada had the opportunity here in this text to preach the philosophy of Ahimsa, He does not do that. He carefully outlines the philosophy of Minimum-Violence or Natihimsrena.
Now this conclusion is the correct philosophical conclusion for the Vaisnavas. And as we are trying to aspire to be devotees we should follow this path. Otherwise it would appear that using the words “Ahimsa Cow Protection and Dairy Products” is against the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.
I have extracted this comment above from a very comprehensive article i wrote about Non-Violence. There is in fact a lot more evidence against the concept of Non-violent food that is not included above. The statements from many Iskcon dairy farms that they produce Ahimsa Dairy is not borne out by our philosophical conclusions and also by what happens on the ground. Many devotees have the idea that as the cows are not slaughtered in a cow protection project that it means the milk they produce is not violent. So what i wrote about was a top to toe analysis and description of all the potential violence that can be incurred in a cow protection project. Starting with the Goshalla materials, the way the Cow Protectors live their lives and lifestyles, the types of food cows eat, the medications and animal husbandry practices, the way the products are processed,marketed and transported to the consumer, the economic situation the whole model is conducted, and how the cows are looked after. Not just whether the Cows are slaughtered or not, in fact as we should all be well aware of in a cow protection scenario the cows die naturally. This process of a natural death can be very violent and painful in itself as we have all witnessed. The trauma and stress for cows is immense, which as devotees we try to minimize, minimum-violence, but violence nonetheless.
There are many aspects of a cow protection project that bear down on the violence of the milk produced within that project and they all need to be taken into account. For these reasons violence is present in all aspects of our lives no matter what we do to try and avoid violence, as Srila Prabhupada outlines, violence is a natural law that we cannot avoid and we have to commit.