Do  Vedas really support animal killing? My understanding from the Upanishads is that Vedic code of living is very strict and goes in coherence with total natural law. Vedas sees one supreme being in all species. During Vedic age, sacrifices were done with symbolic representation of animals but not by actually killing animals. The idea of Yagna was to please gods by sacrifices of your lower nature (tama guna, rajas gun, saatvic gun) by actually sacrificing the symbols of animals which represents our lower nature. In modern Hinduism, people have gone barbaric without understanding the ideas of Vedas. How can Vedas support animal killing when it clearly declares: All this verily is Brahman (Sarvam Khalvidam Bhramha).

Let's enjoy this Dashain with non-violence spreading compassion to all species including lower animals and goats. A goat has an equal right to live like an ordinary human being. Who gave you the right to kiil animals in the name of sacrifice? It is only your desire that is killing goats for your own material needs.

idk 2013, Vedas can be used for reasoning, in fact, Vedas should always be used for reasoning. But to understand the vastness of Vedas, mental reasoning is not enough. In simple word, mental consciousness is not enough to understand the complexities of Vedas. The Rishis, Yogis who discovered Vedas were not ordinary human beings who seek sensual pleasures. These Rishis actually mastered their own mind and came to a state of mind where mind was absolutely silent and this silent state of mind reveals higher reality. And Vedas consist of these higher realities which cannot be understood by normal human who always seeks sex, money, power, meat, wife, children, car, etc. Sex is not in the Penis! Sex is in the mind. Mind is everything! Therefore, why should we focus on inert substances like penis? And to be honest, I am not a scholar of rituals of Atharva Veda. I am just trying to illumine that "real killings of animals" are prohibited in the Vedas. I am just trying to say that modern people ignorantly kill animals in the name of sacrifice when they don't even understand abc of their own religion. 90% of so called Hindu don't even know what Brahman is! All they know is Brahmaa (this is different from Brahman), Visnu, shiva and some other handful of deities. In the Nasadiya sukta of Rig Veda, it boldly tells: Even these gods came after the Big Bang, then who knows what lies beyond that? Such is the Vedas. if understood properly and wisely, you will be liberated, otherwise the suffering of samsara is endless.

@ Iamback aka gorikopoi,

U again trying to be racist here.....i aint bahun but derogatory remarks against any caste is not tolerable.....

@Sandai 

Mukh chodne mauka dinu huncha??? i know u've warned me before. tara sajha ma yesta rakshas haru chan jaslai thik parna rakshas nai bannu parne huncha,.....

@giordano, how do you fight with darkness? By bringing the light! Darkness is unreal. Ignorance cannot be fought with ignorance but with knowledge. Can there exist darkness on the surface of the sun? It's absurd to even think about it.

यो पालि दशैंमा मान्छेले खसी खान नपाउला जस्तो भै राछ, ह्याँ चाहिं खसीकै कुरा भै राछ! फोगट्याहरु!  

idk 2013, I do believe in absolute non-injury. And again, injury is not just physical. You can injure a person mentally, through your thoughts and words. This is a subtle field. About Elbert Einstein, I have deep respect for his contribution in science but Vedas are beyond Einstein's thought. In other words, where quantum physics ends Vedas starts. Also, don't try to mix two worlds: Material & Bhramic world. These two worlds are opposites. From the Bhramic standpoint, how can you injure something that is immortal? In material world, injury do make sense but not in the Bhramic world. To an enlightened sage, this world is a dream. The only reality is Bhraman where there is no pairs of opposite such as love & hate, likes & dislikes etc etc. Be at peace. Enjoy your Dashain with Tika, jamara and aashirvad.

Ok. So how would one sustain without taking life, or ceasing the continuity thereof, of other life forms?

 guys we are talking about hindus here, who in the past thought it was ok for women to go "SATI" once their husband die.

idk 2013, one cannot sustain this body without consuming food unless you know advanced yogic techniques. Humans have choice to eat plant based food or animals. Eating animals is prohibited by Vedas.

I hear you, Nayapidi.

@ujl, by admitting to consume food, you are admitting that you do harm other lives. You kill other souls.... Or are you saying plants do not have life therefore killing seeds or plant parts is non-injury?

You technically cannot kill souls. Souls are immortal. There is a difference between plant life and animal life, though both have souls. Plants do not posses sense organs that registers emotions, pains, suffering, happiness, desires etc.. But animals are higher than plants and posses sense organs that registers emotions, pains, suffering, happiness, desires etc.. Your position is also valid because total liberation is not possible until you give up this body! But you want to live this life minimizing sins. There is a fine law of nature that governs existence. A tiger kills deer when he his hungry. This killing by tiger is not consider as violence or sinful act based on cosmic constitution. The tiger body is not equipped with human intelligence. Humans are responsible for their choices because they possess intelligence. Fruits, vegetables can be consumed for the protection of your body. Self-protection is your Dharma but self-protection on the expense of other living entities who feels emotions is a sinful act.

"You technically cannot kill souls. Souls are immortal." => Kill as much animals as you can because you are not killing any soul. (Who cares abt minor pains as long as u get new body)

IMHO, Dasai without khasi is brothel without prostitutes. And vegeterian Dasai is like visiting brothel and jerking yourself off.
(This is just analogy)
If you know what I mean.

"Fruits, vegetables can be consumed for the protection of your body. Self-protection is your Dharma but self-protection on the expense of other living entities who feels emotions is a sinful act."

Why cannot give you a straight answer? If you believe in absolute non-injury; how can you harm any souls animals or seeds or anything else that has life element within it. How ludicrous is it to pick and choose? After villainizing meat-eating so much in the name of non-injury, then why cannot you admit that by eating your vegetables or milk, you are doing nothing different. Not at all. It is foolish of one to try to say that 'plant is different'. 

Get this story:

एक जना ब्राम्हण कर्मकाण्ड गर्न भनी धनमानको घरमा गएछन | धनमानको करेशा भरि तरकारी फलफुल लटरम्म फलेका थिए | कर्मकाण्ड गरेपछि धनामानकी श्रीमतीले पैसा चामल पोको पारेर ब्राम्हणलाई अलिकति शुद्ध गरेर खीर पकाउन शुरु गरिन | बाजे घर्भेटी आइमाईको काम याद गर्दै थिए अगिदेखी| जता गए पनि खीर खाँदा खाँदा दिक्क भएका बाजेलाई त्यो बारीको कल्कलाउदो लसुनको पात हालेर पकाएको bhyanta को तरकारी र धनिया हालेको गोलभेडाको अचार  खुब खान मन लागेछ र प्वाक्क भनीहाले| 

According to your idea, killing of humans for food is also justifiable. Why don't you start eating human flesh? What keeps you away from eating human flesh? Human flesh and goat flesh have same element! Why don't you start eating human flesh?

 happy goat cutting day

owwwo, Brother Ujl you sound frustrated. Vedas reasoning not helping you anymore? It's a dead end, brother. It takes you nowhere. 

No matter how much we try to deny it, the ecosystem is the reality of this physical world. Metaphysical world is basically just something to talk about, big stuffs, because no one knows. 

So the eating lives of levels below in the pyramid is our reality. So just like eating rice, eating khasi is totally justified. 

About the Vedas, it's a great literature. A lot of knowledge in it. But again it's not a complete package of way of living. 

- It's not discovered by god or rishis or anyone, just human beings like you and me..but intelligent people, great thinkers.
- It cannot answer everything..So once you run to the inevitable dead-end, then people say 'ohh you need to be in higher conciousness level'. You cannot get it.
- So it is a control mechanism as well. Make people feel less of themselves when the ask question and rule them.


If you are a priest and Vedas is your livelihood, try to come to the reality. This world is fun. Really fun..it's not a dark hole as you portray. 

Big thinkers always try to find a bigger meaning to life. Veda is nothing but a book. There are always lot of self help books on the shelf but you don't have to take them as religion. You take in some information that makes sense not everything. I do understand where Uji is coming from and I do support your take on it. We as human beings need to be more sensitive to the killing of lives who experience pain. The eating of plant is a non issue since plants do not have the emotion to experience pain.

As as aware human being who preach and practice humanity, it is a point of hypocrisy when human beings resort to killing animals for food by inflicting pain and death on animals who are very similar to us as far as nurturing and family goes.

We cannot compare that to the animal world who do not have any option to eat besides killing and eating other animals.

It would be nice to be a vegeterian so that we don't have to feel guilty about being an indirect cause of the death and pain felt by an animal but we tend to justify that by acknowledging that as long as we don't kill ourselves it's fine. It's a slippery slope but in the grand scheme of things there is no right and wrong except what one has come to learn by his/her own experience.

So yes it sucks that animals have to be subject to pain and murder which is very unfortunate but nature made us humans who are omnivorous so we will eat both if the opportunity arises.

idk 2013, you didn't answer my question, did you? I want to ask you again. What keeps you away from eating human flesh since goat flesh and human flesh have the same element? Please, kindly explain your reasons. Second, evolution is a fact. Do you think "human beings" are the ultimate goal of evolution? In the scale of evolution, human beings are just refined animals with animal instinct deep rooted. Please read this carefully and try to contemplate for sometime: When you poke a goat with a sharp needle in his/her neck, it reacts with pain and rejects this idea of poking by humans. This means, goats wants to survive and live. They do sex, they raise families, when you go closer to a mother goat, she will immediately tries to save her babies from intruders. All  animals have right to live, reproduce, and enjoy the existence as humans do. Why are you eating meat? In the process of evolution, that was your diet. Within you there is deep rooted animal instinct still present. It is a strong impulse which is extremely hard to give. If you behave like other animals then what is the difference between you and animals. Humans have highly refined instrument of intelligence that can apply reasons to detect what is wrong and what is right. Aimals lack this intelligence. Therefore, aimals have become vulnerable to humans. Knowledge and higher power of intelligence gives you higher responsibility: you can use it to bring peace and harmony to all species, or you can misuse it to satisfy you material needs based on your deep rooted animal instict. Some basic revision: 1)Humans are not the ultimate goal of evolution, 2)intelligence and knowledge gives humans higher responsibility, 3) When there are plenty of vagetarian food available, why is your mind still running after killing animals? Please try to answer my question with logical reasoning. Once again, what is keeping you away from eating human flesh when you know human flesh and goat flesh have same element?

idk 2013, so your position is basically since there is injury involved in every action in food consumption, so why not go ahead and eat whatever we like?