Is non-veg allowed in Hinduism? - Page 3

Then your next question is, "Is diet an important segment of the word?" Yes. Diet is very important thing. Just like when a patient goes to a physician, he prescribes a certain type of diet. Why? That's a practical fact. Why you accept a physician prescription of diet? Suppose a man is suffering from diabetes; his diet is different. A man is suffering from tuberculosis; his diet is different. A man is suffering from typhoid fever; his diet is different. Therefore diet shall not be extravagant or whimsical. They must be selected. First of all we have to see what is the diet of the human being. Actually I read in some scientific magazine, a medical magazine, that our teeth is not meant for eating meats. These teeth are meant for eating fruits. Actually the shape of the teeth is like that, just like sharp knife. You can, apple you can take immediately. But if you take one piece of meat, you cannot eat so easily with these teeth. So first of all you have to understand what is your diet. So your diet is different from animals' diet. You take anything. Even stool is food for a certain animal, but that does not mean I have to eat stool also. Stool may be eatable for a certain type of animal. "Oh, that is not my diet or food." Similarly, we have to discriminate. Now so far we are concerned, Krsna conscious person, we are studying Krsna conscious. What is our diet? Our diet is Krsna-prasadam, what is offered, as I told you, that something is offered to Krsna. Then we take. We don't take anything direct. Just like these fruits. We have first of all offered to Krsna. Here is a plate. Then we take. That is our system. Even we take vegetables, fruits, we don't take directly. We first of all prepare or cut into pieces, offer to the Deity. Then we take. Now, the idea is that we take the remnants of food offered to Krsna. Now, when you offer something to some respectable person, you ask him, "What can I offer you?" If I go to your house and if you want to offer me something to eat, you will ask me what I wish to eat. That is the etiquette. So similarly, we have to offer Krsna what Krsna likes to eat. So how we can know? In this book we have the things, what Krsna wants. He says, "You give Me foodstuff, patram pupam phalam toyam (BG 9.26) fruits, flowers, grains, milk, like that." So our diet is Krsna prasdam. Therefore... Krsna wants these things. We prepare these things, and we eat the remnants of food. If Krsna says that "You give me meat," then we can offer Krsna meat also. But Krsna does not say that. Krsna says, "Give Me fruits, flowers, grains." So we have no quarrel with the meat-eaters. Let them do whatever he likes. But our concern is that unless Krsna takes, we don't take. So in order to become Krsna conscious, this is necessary, just like an important segment of the work. We cannot accept anything which is not offered to Krsna. Therefore this diet, this sort of diet, as you have tasted in our love feast, that is important. We cannot take outside the scope. So in that sense, diet is important. Besides that, from health point of view also, you require a balanced food"carbohydrate, starch, protein, and fat. That is scientific. So fat we are getting from milk, butter. So if I can get fat from milk and butter, why shall I kill the cow and animal? This is humanity. My necessity is to get some milk and fat. The cow is supplying you milk and fat sufficiently. Why should you kill it? I am going to be Krsna conscious, God conscious, and I am killing another God's creature? So it is very important work to select that: if anyone is serious to become God conscious or Krsna conscious. Therefore in our program meat-eating is forbidden. So that is very important in that sense.