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Cow slaughter (Conversations)

Conversations and Morning Walks

1967 Conversations and Morning Walks

Discourse on Lord Caitanya Play Between Srila Prabhupada and Hayagriva -- April 5-6, 1967, San Francisco:

Prabhupāda: The first scene is that people passing on with saṅkīrtana movement as we have, as we usually do, very nice procession with mṛdaṅga, karatālas and that bugle, all people, just in the ordinary way. We have to make a nice procession. The second scene is that Kali, the personified Kali, a person should be decorated blackish. A blackish man with royal dress and very ugly features. And his queen, another ugly featured girl or lady. So they are disturbed. They'll talk between themselves that "There is saṅkīrtana movement now and how we shall prosecute our business of this Kali-yuga?" There will be, in that scene, in some corner somebody is drinking. Two or three persons drinking. The scene will be like that. They are sitting in the center. In one corner somebody taking part in drinking, and another part somebody is illicitly talking of lust and love with woman. In another section there is slaughtering of a cow, and another section gambling. In this way that scene should be adjusted. And in the middle, the ugly man, black man, and the ugly woman will talk that "We are now in danger. The saṅkīrtana movement has been started. What to do?" In this way you have to finish that scene.

1970 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Guest (1): On the first day of this inauguration, and there were definitions about karma-yoga.

Prabhupāda: Oh, the governor. (laughter) Just see. He is speaking of karma-yoga. Slaughtering ten thousand cows, that is karma-yoga. This nonsense speaking of karma-yoga.

Room Conversation -- December 13, 1970, Indore:

Prabhupāda: In India, the land of sages, land of Kṛṣṇa, land of Lord Rāmacandra, land of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, without any restriction cow slaughter is going on. And they are speaking of karma-yoga. Just see the fun.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- August 14, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: If you are not indulging in intoxication, gambling, illicit sex, then your mind will not be irritated. How a gambler can be in peaceful mind? That is not possible. How a drunkard can be in peaceful mind? Agitation is for them who are simply engaged in sinful life. Those who are not engaged in sinful life, naturally they are peaceful. Their mind is not agitated. Vegetarians are naturally peaceful. Just see between a dog and a cow. (laughter). Dog unnecessarily will talk: "Gow! Gow! Gow! Gow!" (makes barking sound) without any fault. "Why you are here? Why you are here? Why you are here?" That is dog's qualification. A cow, so useful animal, it will never agitate. The dog has no use, but still he's the best friend. (laughter) And cow, actually giving us milk, sending to the slaughterhouse. Just see. This is human civilization. A dog is worshiped, and a cow is slaughtered. Do you think it is civilization? Do you think? Can you support this?

Guest (1): Well, I had a friend who was a vegetarian...

Prabhupāda: No, apart from this, these two animals. One is dog, and another is cow. So dog is worshiped and cow is sent to the slaughterhouse. What kind of civilization it is? Huh?

Haṁsadūta: Animal.

Prabhupāda: Less than! Cow is supporting the whole society with milk. Every morning, without milk, we cannot live. The child, without milk, cannot live. She should be treated as mother. And they are being sent to the slaughterhouse. And still, they are thinking of becoming free from sinful life. Can anyone kill his own mother? "Oh, mother is old and useless. Let her be killed. Burden." Is that very gratitude for the mother by the son?

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- March 12, 1972, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Our authorities, they accept Mandakara(?) is not as good as Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Śaṅkarācārya. We... Nobody can give credit to Mandakara more than these ācāryas or Caitanya. So how his proposition can be accepted?

Dr. Kapoor: So he was knighted, you see, by the British government.

Prabhupāda: Yes, just see. (guest laughs) Just like Nehru bribed one Mukerjee, Rādhā-kuṇḍa Mukerjee, doctor, to write book where he has supported cow slaughter.

Dr. Kapoor: He supported. Hmm, hmm.

Guru dāsa: If I was the Western government and you handed the most perfect knowledge to me, I would knight you also, in the name of myself. Certainly I would knight you.

Prabhupāda: So Rādhā-kuṇḍa Mukerjee, he has supported cow slaughter. He was given a post, made a parliament member first of all. So this poor man, five hundred rupees per month, he accepted. Then he induced that "You take more money, write like this." So if you pay money... British government's whole policy was that if the Indians are kept strict Hindus, it is next to impossible to govern them. So therefore they adopted this policy. They changed the whole policy how the Hindu will think everything mentioned in the śāstra is nonsense. They have trained up, and Nehru is the first-class trainee. Everything mentioned in the śāstra, the Arya-samaj, they also wrote Saptartha (indistinct), so many. And Dr. Radhakrishnan also. All the scholars, they would never mention any śāstra more than once within one thousand years. That means...

Dr. Kapoor: Otherwise they would not be scholars.

Prabhupāda: No. Otherwise they will not be scholars.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 30, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: There will be so much advancement that there will be no grains, no milk.

Karandhara: Many scientists and doctors now say you shouldn't drink milk anyway.

Prabhupāda: Why?

Karandhara: They say it's unhealthy.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā. What is healthy? Meat?

Karandhara: Meat.

Prabhupāda: Do the scientists say like that?

Svarūpa Dāmodara: I'm not very sure. But they produce imitation milk, the milk produced from soya bean. That's available in the market. Many, in fact I find, many people do not buy the natural milk. They buy the imitation milk, milk produced from the bean, soya bean. They say that milk contains too much fat. So that makes them very fat. So they want to control their weight by taking the imitation milk which contains less protein and...

Prabhupāda: Yes. Milk will disappear. Harer nāma... (CC Adi 17.21). (pause)

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Prabhupāda, buffalo, buffalo milk is as good as cow's milk?

Prabhupāda: No. It contains more fat. Milk means cow's milk. If you want to derive milk profit, then it is cow's milk. Otherwise every animal has got milk. And next to cow's milk is goat's milk. Goat. Buffalo milk is not so nice.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: It's difficult to digest.

Prabhupāda: No, they therefore mix with water.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: In Manipur we use mostly buffalo milk because cow's milk is not very plenty. Very expensive also.

Prabhupāda: Everywhere. In India, cows are disappearing by slaughterhouse.

Conversation at Airport -- October 26, 1973, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Kāmaṁ vavarṣa parjanyaḥ. So if there is regular rainfall, then you get all necessities of life. And the cows were so happy that the milk bag was so full that the pasturing ground became muddy with milk. They were supplying so much milk. So arrangement should be made how you can get more milk and more foodgrains. Then the whole economic problem will be solved. But instead of getting more milk, they are slaughtering cows, innocent animals. So people have become demons, rascals, so they must suffer. There is no other way.

Morning Walk -- December 11, 1973, Los Angeles:

Yaśomatīnandana: Is it all right to blame the government in public, Prabhupāda, in India?

Prabhupāda: No, what is that government? Government is elected by the public. If public is polluted, the government must be polluted. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Public votes somebody, "Take charge of government." So if the public selects somebody nonsense, the government must be nonsense.

Yaśomatīnandana: Yes. In other words, to tell the public that "You should elect God-conscious leaders to have a better society."

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. That is our propaganda, that "This is the standard of leadership. So if you elect first-class leader, then your government will be first-class. But if you elect some rogues and thieves, drunkards, then how you can expect good government?" This is natural. After all, democracy means the public elect. The public does not know how to distinguish the rogues and thieves. Therefore the rogues and thieves take the advantage of it and, somehow or other, and take vote and sit on the presidential chair. That is difficulty. Just like our propaganda is... We are not making any propaganda in the beginning, that "Stop this cow slaughter." We are educating people, "Don't eat meat." If people become educated, automatically the slaughterhouse will be closed. This is our propaganda. "Don't drink." So if people give up drinking, automatically the drinking business will be closed.

Prajāpati: You have given us this instruction, Śrīla Prabhupāda, to confront these leaders. We understand that this is your very much wish and we shall do everything we can to try to fulfill your desire.

Prabhupāda: Yes, do it. Do it.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 3, 1974, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: ...is that nṛpa-liṅga-dharaṁ śūdram. The śūdras, fourth-class men, they are on the government executive. This is one defect. And another defect is ghnantaṁ go-mithunaṁ padā, maintaining large-scale slaughterhouse. These are the two defects of modern civilization. They..., on the top of government there are śūdras, not kṣatriyas. Neither they are guided by intelligent class, brāhmaṇas. Parīkṣit Mahārāja's first beginning is dvija-varya-śikṣayā. The guidance was first-class brāhmaṇas, and he was a kṣatriya, first-class. And there was no animal slaughterhouse. They are also suffering. They are bringing every day some problem. "What is the solution of this problem, what is this solution...?" But why the problems are coming? Because the defect is there that the, on the head of the government there are śūdras and they are busy in cow-killing, maintaining slaughterhouse. This is the defect. And they are not guided by the first-class, intelligent class of men.

Morning Walk -- April 10, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: ...cows were getting grass also. Water. But you will find there is no water, there is no grass in the field. And the government is sending the cows to the slaughterhouse. This is the condition of present India. In Europe, America, although they are selling the cows to the slaughterhouse, they have got enough grass and water. That I have seen. At least so long they live, the cows are comfortably maintained. But here there is no comfort for the cows. Now here the anxiety is whether the cows are getting sufficient grass and water.

Makhanlal: What's the explanation then? They are slaughtering more cows in the United States, but there is still more fortunate situation there materially.

Prabhupāda: No, that is now dwindling. The hippies are coming out. So one day it will be finished. One day it will be finished. That... It has already begun. The future hope is now becoming hippies. So who will manage this? It is already there is a problem how to maintain the industry, how to... This has become a problem. So naturally, when the, there will be all hippies, not to work, then everything collapses. The so-called prosperity will be finished.

Room Conversation with Mr. C. Hennis of the International Labor Organization of the U.N. -- May 31, 1974, Geneva:

Yogeśvara: He admitted it.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Any sane man will admit it. Cow is giving milk-mother. And bull is producing food—he is father. And they are being killed? Is that human society? How they can be happy? There is no possibility. Regularly they are maintaining slaughterhouse especially for the cows and bulls. Why don't you slaughter the dogs and hogs and eat if you are meat-eater? There are many meat-eaters who eat dogs. Dog is useless. You can eat. Hog is also useless. They are eating also dog and hog, everything, whatever they...

Morning Walk -- June 2, 1974, Geneva:

Karandhara: Prabhupāda, in a recent study by U.S. Agricultural officials, they found that it is really uneconomical to eat meat. It takes so much energy and man hours to raise and transport and slaughter the cows that it makes it very wasteful.

Prabhupāda: Wasteful, yes. Therefore I say they have no brain. All, they are rascals. Rascal leaders. A little labor in agriculture will be sufficient to produce the family's food stock for the whole year. You can stock. You work only three months, and you get sufficient food for your whole family. And less nine months, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. But these rascals will not do that. They will work hard like ass simply for eating. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti (SB 5.5.4). They will not accept easy life.

Room Conversation -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: So far I have studied... I am traveling all over the world. It is my calculation that we can produce food to give food ten times of the population if we properly utilize the whole planet according to this-produce food. Why because the milk is produced more, the cows should be slaughtered when there is a need of milk? It is so nice foodstuff. So on account of this false nationalism, "This is my land, this is my land, this is my land..." And why not take it as God's land and produce enough foodstuff. There will be no scarcity. There will be no skeleton. And distribute it. Where is that consciousness? There is so much land uncultivated all over the world, especially in America, in Australia, and in Africa, so much, huge land, no cultivation. They are keeping some cows and slaughtering them and exporting. What is this? Why don't you produce food?

Room Conversation with devotees about Twelfth Canto Kali-yuga, and Conversation with Guest -- June 15, 1974, Paris:

Prabhupāda: That is... When we pray, offer pray, it is stated that that is his, one of the qualifications. Sada... Nindasi. Nindasi yajña-vidher. The animal sacrifice is recommended... Some of the sacrifices or all of them... So that animal sacrifice was not meant for eating. Just to give them new, rejuvenated life by the Vedic mantras, to test that whether Vedic mantras are being chanted properly. And because at the Kali-yuga there is no such expert brāhmaṇa, all sacrifices are forbidden. So later on, as they deteriorated, they began to offer sacrifices, and if anyone wants to stop it, they will say, "Oh, it is recommended in the Vedas." Just like these rascals, Christian: "Oh, Christ ate fish. Therefore we must maintain slaughterhouse." Just see how rascal they are. Supposing Christ ate somewhere fish. Therefore they would maintain regularly slaughterhouse of cows. This is their brain.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 1, 1975, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: No. God did not give you the land. How do you think it is given to you?

Tripurāri: They say, "God put us here..."

Prabhupāda: God... God has given to every living entity. You can say like that. Just like father. Father gives to all sons, not that a particular son. Why do you claim? Why do you slaughter the cows? They have got right. So, so many faults there are. But they are not reasonable.

Morning Walk -- April 28, 1975, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: That is Vivekananda's philosophy. "Whatever opinion you have got, that is also nice." That means even if we differ, your opinion, my opinion, your is good and my is good. That means no controversy, that's all: making compromise. If I say, "Your, your whatever you think..." This is going on. When Gandhi was approached that "You have got so much influence on the Mohammedans. Why don't you stop this cow slaughter?" Gandhi said, "No, it is their religion. I cannot stop." That is yata mat, that "Cow slaughter is also good, and cow not slaughter is also good." (chuckles) This is their philosophy.

Room Conversations -- July 26, 1975, Laguna Beach:

Mr. Surface: Were some of the animals destined to survive through the destruction of other animals?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You are also destroying so many cows daily, although you are human being. Do you consider that "Why this cow should be slaughtered?" They are also living beings. So what about the animals? If man can slaughter so many animals daily, then if a tiger kills another one animal, what is the wrong there? That is the distinction between man and animal. Everyone has to eat somebody, and nature's law is one living being is eating another living being. Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam. So the snake is eating the frog, the frog is eating another small animal or some flies, and the snake is eaten by the mongoose, and the mongoose eaten by somebody else, by cat or by dog. So this is the law of nature. Therefore the human being is suggested that "You should take Kṛṣṇa prasādam. Eating is required, but you don't eat like the lower animals. You take Kṛṣṇa prasādam.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 10, 1976, Los Angeles:

Dr. Wolfe: Last year, I drove with Svarūpa Dāmodara through Texas on the way to Atlanta, and I thought so much.... We watched those thousands and thousands of cattle, only beef cattle, only for slaughtering, not one milk cow anymore. And I was so acutely aware of what I had learned from you.

Prabhupāda: They do not know the civilized way of life. They are still barbars, called?

Devotees: Barbarians.

Interview with Mike Darby -- June 30, 1976, Wheeling, W. Virginia:

Prabhupāda: So it is the duty of the Christians. But they are also... What can I say? They are passing resolution according to the time, changing the instruction of Bible. How they can be fixed-up? Our standard is Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. We accept guru as representative of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If he speaks what Kṛṣṇa has spoken, then he is guru. Similar in Christianity, if they actually take care that whether one is speaking according to the Ten Commandments, if he is living according to the rules and regulations of the Ten Commandments, then he is guru. Why people accept them? Because they are ignorant, they do not know who is real and who is fake. But the standard is there. Take for example in the Bible, it is said "Thou shalt not kill." But everyone is killing. Killing is the business of the Christians. They are maintaining big, big slaughterhouse. We are maintaining cows here, and there are others, they are maintaining cows for slaughtering. Why? In these Commandments it is clearly said that "Thou shalt not kill." How they will detect? If they are violating themselves the laws, how they will punish the lawbreaker? "Physician, heal thyself." The physician himself is diseased, and he's going to treat other patients.

Morning Walk -- August 14, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: In our Philadelphia farm we are selling fifteen hundred dollars extra milk. Fifteen hundred dollars per month. So if cow is properly protected, it can supply immense milk.

Dr. Patel: It was Mr. Nehru, he said that we cannot prohibit cow slaughter. Therefore he made so many wrong things. (break) (Hindi)

Prabhupāda: (Hindi) This is māyā. We are...

Dr. Patel: We are praying to end rebirths by kṛṣṇa-bhakti, and so there is no question of rebirth if we do it sincerely, and it is for the parama-bhakta...

Prabhupāda: Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti... (BG 4.9).

Morning Walk -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: No, no, we are speaking... We are speaking... Because it is important, therefore Kṛṣṇa said, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. Why go-rakṣya required, you do not require any explanation. Kṛṣṇa said, go-rakṣya, "You must protect." That's all. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Because we have no brain why Kṛṣṇa—giving up all other animals—He is giving stress on go. And that is meaning. He never said, animal-rakṣya, paśu-rakṣya, no. Those who want to eat paśu, let them eat nonimportant like hogs and dogs. There are class of men who eat dogs also, hogs also. Or, utmost, goats. But don't touch cow. This is instruction. And modern civilization first of all killed all the cows. And when they are no more available then can you eat other animals. I do not know why our government is now restricting cow slaughter.

Dr. Patel: They have banned the cow slaughter all over India now.

Prabhupāda: I know that. Eh.

Morning Walk -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Vinode Bhave is not so important. There is government policy, something. Otherwise they could not care what Vinode Bhave said. It is... Don't think it is due to Vinode Bhave's request.

Dr. Patel: No, but that is what apparently...

Prabhupāda: What Vinode Bhave. There were so many agitation for stopping cow slaughter, big, big, Karpatraji and others, others...

Guest (4): One Śaṅkarācārya fasted seventy days.

Prabhupāda: Yes, so they didn't care. Now, all of a sudden, why this good sense? Vinode Bhave is not very important. There is some policy.

Morning Walk -- December 27, 1976, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: He has recommended our case, that "This is the only institution who is making the Christian Hindu. Before this movement the Christian converted Hindus. Nobody could convert the Christian to become Hindu. And this is the only movement that is converting Christian to Hindu." So he is very much in favor of this movement, and it is understood that he talked with Indira Gandhi in telephone. So maybe that if that Hindu movement is increasing and in India the cow slaughter is going on, and it is against Hindu, (they) might have considered like that.

Dr. Patel: Pakistan has banned cow slaughter. Because they had done away by vengeance, all the cows. They wanted to spite the Hindus, kill the cows.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 15, 1977, Allahabad:

Prabhupāda: In Durban. South Africa. Fighting with General Smuts to give Indians equal rights. They are very conservative. At heart they want "Indians may go away." They don't want Indians. And if they want, it is for their own benefit. The Indians have given some place to develop as marketplace, and as soon as they develop, they ask, "Go there. Leave this place. Go away, other place." This is going on. And they know very well, politicians. The Indians have been given a place where nearby there is a slaughterhouse. They know Indians are sentimental, at least for cow slaughtering. Whole night slaughtering is going on, and there are screaming of the animals. Whole night. Even those who are meat-eaters, they will be disturbed. So the purpose is that "Let them live near the slaughterhouse, so by sentiment they are disgusted, leave this country." They don't want the Asians, especially Indians, and especially due to Gandhi, because they know, due to Gandhi... At least Gandhi organized the public opinion against the Britishers by this noncooperation movement. They were not affected by the... Affected in this way, that public opinion was against them. That is also organization. Otherwise Gandhi's method was not harmful to the..., this noncooperation, nonviolent. That did not help. But he influenced the public opinion against them.

Evening Conversation -- January 25, 1977, Puri:

Prabhupāda: ...there the injunction of the śāstra, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. Go-rakṣya. Cow should be protected. Kṛṣṇa said, kṛṣi-go-rakṣya. Kṛṣṇa did not say chāgala-rakṣya or hog-rakṣya. Go-rakṣya. So it is the duty of the king or the state or the government to give protection to the cows. This is śāstric injunction. But nowadays neither the state or government is giving protection to the cow. They are becoming implicated with so many problems. I heard that India again is not slaughtering cows.

Room Conversation -- February 19, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: It has become national industry in Africa also.

Hari-śauri: And Australia...

Prabhupāda: Australia.

Hari-śauri: ...New Zealand.

Prabhupāda: Therefore the world is suffering, so much sinful activities. The greatest sinful activity is cow slaughter, and they are committing. They do not know what will be the result. Such brain, stool, stool-bound brain. Thorough overhaul is required. That we are doing. Otherwise the stool cannot be cleansed.

Evening Darsana -- February 25, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Because that stool and urine is also useful. Cow is so important. They'll eat and they'll pass stool and urine. That is also important. If they supply milk, it is well, very good. Otherwise the stool and urine is also important. From that point of view we should give protection. So they are doing this cow slaughter business. (aside:) For you. Therefore they are suffering so much. So Kṛṣṇa has given you very nice occupation, translation work, and you are earning your livelihood independently. So do it very nicely. And if there is strain to work, then don't work. We shall pay you for the rent, etc... It doesn't matter. But you must maintain your status of translating work. That is very good. If you can work, you can work. Otherwise don't worry.

Second Meeting with Mr. Dwivedi -- April 24, 1977, Bombay:

Mr. Dwivedi: ...on that basis, they'll begin to spread that news.

Prabhupāda: (chants japa) If actually government follows Bhagavad-gītā, then they should stop this cow slaughter immediately. Go-rakṣya. If you want to eat meat, there are so many other animals. But don't touch cow. What is this? Ten thousand cows are being killed every day. And you are preaching nonviolence.

Room Conversation -- August 10, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Phalena paricīyate: "By result." We are spreading Hindu culture throughout the whole world. He has to judge from this point of view, by the result. The persons, the people who are accustomed to kill cows, they are giving up meat-eating. Do you think it is ordinary thing? So he has... He must have good judgment before giving any adverse opinion. Engaged in horrible cow slaughter, they are becoming Vaiṣṇavas. Is it ordinary thing? Nārada did. What is the vyādha?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Nārada Muni?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Page Title:Cow slaughter (Conversations)
Compiler:Labangalatika, Visnu Murti, Serene
Created:16 of Feb, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=29, Let=0
No. of Quotes:29