Thank you for your comments on meat eating article. I am happy to hear you are doing research on vegetarianism and how all religions supports vegetarianism. It is with no doubt that all religions in its purest sense does not support or encourage meat eating. Many things have been misinterpreted to suit their own views. For example in the Bible it is said ‘Thou Shall Not Kill’ but people say this relates to humans only and it is ok to kill and eat meat, if that was the case then the commandment would be ‘Thou Shall Not Kill Humans’. ‘Thou Shall Not Kill’ means we should not kill anything animals or humans or any other creatures.

Other religions talk about surrendering to God and loving him, but on the other side they encourage slitting throats, where is the act of love? If people had to kill animals themselves to eat it they would had been vegetarians for sure as they consciously know that this is another form of violence and its surely causing pain to the animals, this is just being hypocrite.

I am happy to hear that the Christian Vegetarian Association are working hard to show that the Bible supports vegetarianism and that Jesus was an animal lover and a vegetarian. Jesus was truly an animal lover and lover of all, he spread the message of love. If many people could understand this then there would be less karmic reactions on this planet earth. The mother nature is responding to the cruelty of humans demonic mentality, this is the reason why there are many natural disturbances on earth such as Tsunami, Earthquakes, etc. These greatly sinful acts are responsible for so many troubles in present society. To kill cows and other animals means to end human civilisation. People do not know what harm they are doing in the name of economic development. They do not realise that only by seeing that bulls and cows are happy in all respects, human society can be happy. This is a fact by the laws of nature.

What does the Vedas say about drinking milk?

The Vedas says that milk is certainly ok for drinking as there is no harm in the content and it is considered in the mode of Goodness. Milk itself has many nutrition’s which helps the fine tissues in the brain which helps us to function better and sustain human physiological conditions for higher achievements. People are generally unaware of the importance of cows. Cows produce, in large quantities, the miracle food, milk. Milk is produced from the blood of the cow, however she is happy to give her blood transformed in a peaceful, non-violent way in the form of milk.

The cow is so merciful she is freely giving us her milk which contains all the vitamins, proteins and other nutrients found in flesh. If people drink milk there is absolutely no need for animal killing and no possibility of their diets being deficient in any way. One can survive simply by drinking milk. Milk is a complete food.

Many animal lovers believe that milk should not be consumed as the milk belongs to the calf?

The cow produces excess milk and as long as we are not harming the cow or the calf then it is fine to consume milk. There is a symbiotic relationship between men and cows. If we take good care of them, ensuring they are sheltered, fed and protected, ‘they happily produce more than enough milk for their calves’, and we can take the excess without harming them in any way. Eating only grass, which costs nothing to produce, the cow in turn produces milk that provides nearly all the nutrients we need. One cow produces more milk than a whole family can drink in one day. What is not drunk is turned into yogurt, cheese, butter and ghee (butterfat) – the latter being the basis for so many exquisite Indian sweetmeats and savouries. Because cows supply milk, in Vedic culture they are accepted as our mother, and therefore worthy of reverence. How many babies are raised on cow’s milk?

Some quotes on milk from Srila Prabhupada (Founder):-

There is a miracle in milk, for it contains all the necessary vitamins to sustain human physiological conditions for higher achievements. Brahminical culture can advance only when man is educated to develop the quality of goodness, and for this there is a prime necessity of food prepared with milk, fruits and grains. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.4 Purport)

from the milk we can make hundreds of vitaminous foodstuff…hundreds. They’re all palatable. You cannot reject milk from the human society. As soon as there is a child born, milk immediately required. Old man, milk is life. Diseased person, milk is life. Invalid, milk is life. So therefore Krishna is teaching by His practical demonstration how He loves this innocent animal, cow. (Lecture — Los Angeles, December 4, 1968)

The Krishna Consciousness movement is developing farming communities around the world. At Bhaktivedanta Manor (Hare Krishna Temple in Watford) there are 46 cows and oxen. The results of the gentle Vedic method are evident there, where the cows peacefully produce first class milk that has won many prizes at local shows.

Hare Krishna.

ISKCON Birmingham

Thank you for your comments on ‘What’s wrong with eating meat’ article and I am glad that you found it interesting. Regarding your question about the story on onions and garlic this is a true historic event and it did literally happened many thousands of years ago. American scientists have discovered in their laboratories that there are 21 different types of slow poisons in onions and garlic, so they are not innocent foods. In Satya-yuga, the rsis performed gomedha (cow) and asvamedha (horse) sacrifices for the welfare of the whole universe. [This proved the efficacy of the recitation of the Vedic mantras uttered by the qualified Brahmins during the sacrifice.] A very old cow or a horse would be sacrificed by being cut into pieces and placed in the fire. Afterwards, the rsis would utter mantras and the same animal would come alive in a beautiful young body. Also to note that the cows were not actually murdered but sacrificed to give them a new bodily form.

These stories are all in the Vedic scriptures and written by Srila Vyasadeva who is the author of Vedic scriptures. What Vyasdeva has written is very true, he was able to see what is favourable for devotion to God and what is unfavourable. He saw that the onion is tamasik (in the mode of ignorance). It has all the qualities present in the meat of cows, and the same result obtained from eating cow flesh which occurs from eating onions. One will become lusty and violent by eating it. Srila Vyasadeva has also seen in his meditation that garlic came from the bones of that cow. It is full with bad qualities and puts one in the mode of ignorance. We should avoid eating onions and garlic and try to follow Vyasadeva’s instructions. If you do not follow, the same bad qualities will come to the person who eats it and that comes by eating cows flesh, bones, and so on. This has been explained in the Sastra’s, and it is confirmed by scientific evidence. Whatever has been said in the Sastra’s or the Vedic scriptures it is all true, maybe due to our limited knowledge we may not be able to comprehend such things but the Vedic Scriptures are transcendental and spiritual so everything is correct and nothing has been made up. The modern science is finding out things which had already been mentioned long time ago in the Vedic Scriptures.

Hare Krishna,

ISKCON Birmingham

I thought the article about meat eating was quite interesting. One point that did jump out at me was the story of how onions and garlic come from a murdered cow. Can I ask if you take this story literally and think that this actually happened?