Expressions researched:
"dark moon"
|"dark-moon"
|"moon is by nature dark"
|"moon is dark"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
Specifically, recitation is recommended on the full moon or dark moon day, on the day after Ekādaśī, on the appearance of the Śravaṇa star, at the end of a particular tithi, or the occasion of Vyatīpāta, at the end of the month, or on Sunday.
SB 4.12.49-50, Translation and Purport: Persons who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord should recite this narration of Dhruva Mahārāja without taking remuneration. Specifically, recitation is recommended on the full moon or dark moon day, on the day after Ekādaśī, on the appearance of the Śravaṇa star, at the end of a particular tithi, or the occasion of Vyatīpāta, at the end of the month, or on Sunday. Such recitation should of course be performed before a favorable audience. When recitation is performed this way, without professional motive, the reciter and audience become perfect.
Professional reciters may ask money to extinguish the blazing fire within their bellies, but they cannot make any spiritual improvement or become perfect. It is therefore strictly forbidden to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a profession to earn a livelihood. Only one who is completely surrendered at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, depending fully on Him for personal maintenance or even for maintenance of his family, can attain perfection by recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is full of narrations of the pastimes of the Lord and His devotees. The process can be summarized as follows: the audience must be faithfully receptive to the Bhāgavata message, and the reciter should completely depend on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhāgavata recitation must not be a business. If done in the right way, not only does the reciter achieve perfect satisfaction, but the Lord also is very satisfied with the reciter and the audience, and thus both are liberated from material bondage simply by the process of hearing.
On a dark-moon night, the full shining moon is still present, but it appears not to be present due to conditions.
SB 4.29.72, Translation and Purport: When one is a youth, all the ten senses and the mind are completely visible. However, in the mother's womb or in the boyhood state, the sense organs and the mind remain covered, just as the full moon is covered by the darkness of the dark-moon night.
When a living entity is within the womb, his gross body, the ten sense organs and the mind are not fully developed. At such a time the objects of the senses do not disturb him. In a dream a young man may experience the presence of a young woman because at that time the senses are active. Because of undeveloped senses, a child or boy will not see a young woman in his dreams. The senses are active in youth even when one dreams, and although there may be no young woman present, the senses may act and there may be a seminal discharge (nocturnal emission). The activities of the subtle and gross bodies depend on how developed conditions are. The example of the moon is very appropriate. On a dark-moon night, the full shining moon is still present, but it appears not to be present due to conditions. Similarly, the senses of the living entity are there, but they only become active when the gross body and the subtle body are developed. Unless the senses of the gross body are developed, they will not act on the subtle body. Similarly, because of the absence of desires in the subtle body, there may be no development in the gross body.
SB Canto 5
Rāhu is inimical toward both the sun and the moon, and therefore he always tries to cover the sunshine and moonshine on the dark-moon day and full-moon night.
SB 5.24.2, Translation and Purport: The sun globe, which is a source of heat, extends for 10,000 yojanas (80,000 miles). The moon extends for 20,000 yojanas (160,000 miles), and Rāhu extends for 30,000 yojanas (240,000 miles). Formerly, when nectar was being distributed, Rāhu tried to create dissension between the sun and moon by interposing himself between them. Rāhu is inimical toward both the sun and the moon, and therefore he always tries to cover the sunshine and moonshine on the dark-moon day and full-moon night.
As stated herein, the sun extends for 10,000 yojanas, and the moon extends for twice that, or 20,000 yojanas. The word dvādaśa should be understood to mean twice as much as ten, or twenty. In the opinion of Vijayadhvaja, the extent of Rāhu should be twice that of the moon, or 40,000 yojanas. However to reconcile this apparent contradiction to the text of the Bhāgavatam, Vijayadhvaja cites the following quotation concerning Rāhu; rāhu-soma-ravīṇāṁ tu maṇḍalā dvi-guṇoktitām. This means that Rāhu is twice as large as the moon, which is twice as large as the sun. This is the conclusion of the commentator Vijayadhvaja.
SB Canto 7
SB 7.14.19, Translation: A brāhmaṇa who is sufficiently rich must offer oblations to the forefathers during the dark-moon fortnight in the latter part of the month of Bhādra. Similarly, he should offer oblations to the relatives of the forefathers during the mahālayā ceremonies in the month of Āśvina.
SB Canto 8
Since Rāhu is an eternal enemy of the moon and the sun, he always tries to attack them on the nights of the full moon and the dark moon.
SB 8.9.26, Translation and Purport: Rāhu's head, however, having been touched by the nectar, became immortal. Thus Lord Brahmā accepted Rāhu's head as one of the planets. Since Rāhu is an eternal enemy of the moon and the sun, he always tries to attack them on the nights of the full moon and the dark moon.
Since Rāhu had become immortal, Lord Brahmā accepted him as one of the grahas, or planets, like the moon and the sun. Rāhu, however, being an eternal enemy of the moon and sun, attacks them periodically during the nights of the full moon and the dark moon.
SB 8.16.26, Translation: If dirt dug up by a boar is available, on the day of the dark moon one should smear this dirt on his body and then bathe in a flowing river. While bathing, one should chant the following mantra.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
In Khānākūla-kṛṣṇanagara there is a big fair held every year in the month of Caitra (March-April) on the Kṛṣṇa-saptamī, the seventh day of the dark moon.
CC Adi 11.13, Purport: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Ten miles southwest of the Cāṅpāḍāṅgā railway station on the narrow-gauge railway line from Howrah, in Calcutta, to Āmtā, a village in the Hugli district, is a small town named Khānākūla-kṛṣṇanagara, where the temple in which Abhirāma Ṭhākura worshiped is situated. During the rainy season, when this area is inundated with water, people must go there by another line, which is now called the South Eastern Railway. On this line there is a station named Kolāghāṭa, from which one has to go by steamer to Rāṇīcaka. Seven and a half miles north of Rāṇīcaka is Khānākūla. The temple where Abhirāma Ṭhākura worshiped is situated in Kṛṣṇanagara, which is near the kūla (bank) of the Khānā (Dvārakeśvara River); therefore this place is celebrated as Khānākūla-kṛṣṇanagara. Outside of the temple is a bakula tree. This place is known as Siddha-bakula-kuñja. It is said that when Abhirāma Ṭhākura came there, he sat down under this tree. In Khānākūla-kṛṣṇanagara there is a big fair held every year in the month of Caitra (March-April) on the Kṛṣṇa-saptamī, the seventh day of the dark moon. Many hundreds and thousands of people gather for this festival. The temple where Abhirāma Ṭhākura worshiped has a very old history. The Deity in the temple is known as Gopīnātha. There are many sevaita families living near the temple. It is said that Abhirāma Ṭhākura had a whip and that whoever he touched with it would immediately become an elevated devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Among his many disciples, Śrīmān Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was the most famous and the most dear, but it is doubtful that he was his initiated disciple."
CC Madhya-lila
The Dīpāvalī festival takes place on the dark-moon night in the month of Kārtika (October-November).
CC Madhya 15.36, Translation and Purport: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees participated in all the festivals, including Rāsa-yātrā, Dīpāvalī and Utthāna-dvādaśī.
The Dīpāvalī festival takes place on the dark-moon night in the month of Kārtika (October-November). The Rāsa-yātrā, or rāsa dancing of Kṛṣṇa, takes place on the full-moon night of the same month. Utthāna-dvādaśī takes place the day after Ekādaśī in the waxing fortnight of the moon in the same month. All the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu participated in all these festivals.
One is on the day of the dark moon, and the other is on the day of the full moon during the month of Māgha.
CC Madhya 18.150, Translation and Purport: "I will be very happy if we all leave and take the path by the banks of the Ganges. Then we can have the opportunity of bathing in the Ganges at Prayāga during Makara-saṅkrānti."
There are two great occasions for bathing in the Ganges during Māgha-melā. One is on the day of the dark moon, and the other is on the day of the full moon during the month of Māgha.
According to the opinion of others, Vallabhācārya was born in 1400 Śakābda Era on the Ekādaśī day of the dark moon in the month of Caitra, and he took his birth in a brāhmaṇa family surnamed Khambhaṁpāṭībāru.
CC Madhya 19.61, Purport: Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was originally from a place in southern India called Trailaṅga. There is a railway station there called Niḍāḍābhalu. Sixteen miles from that station is a village called Kāṅkaḍabāḍa, or Kākuṅrapāḍhu. A learned brāhmaṇa named Lakṣmaṇa Dīkṣita used to live there, and Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was his son. There are five sections of the brāhmaṇa community of Āndhra Pradesh, known as Bella-nāṭī, Vegī-nāṭī, Muraki-nāṭī, Telagu-nāṭī and Kāśala-nāṭī. Out of these five brahminical communities, Vallabhācārya took his birth in the community of Bella-nāṭī in the year 1400 Śakābda Era (A.D. 1478). According to some people, Vallabha Bhaṭṭācārya's father took sannyāsa before Vallabha's birth, and he returned home to take Vallabhācārya as his son. According to the opinion of others, Vallabhācārya was born in 1400 Śakābda Era on the Ekādaśī day of the dark moon in the month of Caitra, and he took his birth in a brāhmaṇa family surnamed Khambhaṁpāṭībāru. According to this account, his father's name was Lakṣmaṇa Bhaṭṭa Dīkṣita, and he was born in Campakāraṇya. In someone else's opinion, Vallabhācārya appeared near the village named Cāṅpā-jhāra-grāma, which is near a railway station named Rājima in Madhya Pradesh.
This should be done on a dark-moon night, and the painful noises expressed by the animal at the time of being slaughtered are not to be heard by anyone.
CC Madhya 24.250, Purport: This is another good instruction to animal-killers. There are always animal-killers and animal-eaters in human society because less civilized people are accustomed to eating meat. In the Vedic civilization, meat-eaters are advised to kill an animal for the goddess Kālī or a similar demigod. This is in order not to give the animal unnecessary pain, as slaughterhouses do. In the bali-dāna sacrifice to a demigod, it is recommended to cut the throat of an animal with one slice. This should be done on a dark-moon night, and the painful noises expressed by the animal at the time of being slaughtered are not to be heard by anyone. There are also many other restrictions. Slaughter is allowed only once a month, and the killer of the animal has to suffer similar pains in his next life. At the present moment, so-called civilized men do not sacrifice animals to a deity in a religious or ritualistic way. They openly kill animals daily by the thousands for no purpose other than the satisfaction of the tongue. Because of this the entire world is suffering in so many ways. Politicians are unnecessarily declaring war, and according to the stringent laws of material nature, massacres are taking place between nations.
CC Antya-lila
When interpreted for Kṛṣṇa, the night is understood to have been a dark-moon night, and when interpreted for Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, it is considered to have been a full-moon night.
CC Antya 1.136, Translation and Purport: "Springtime had arrived, and the full moon of that season inspired the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is complete in everything, with new attraction to meet the beautiful Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī at night to increase the beauty of Their pastimes."
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura interprets this verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 1.10) in two ways, for Lord Kṛṣṇa and for Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. When interpreted for Kṛṣṇa, the night is understood to have been a dark-moon night, and when interpreted for Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, it is considered to have been a full-moon night.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
From the statements of previous chapters, it appears that the festival of Govardhana-pūjā was performed just after the dark-moon night of the month of Kārttika.
Krsna Book 29: In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the rāsa dance took place on the full-moon night of the śarat season. From the statements of previous chapters, it appears that the festival of Govardhana-pūjā was performed just after the dark-moon night of the month of Kārttika, and thereafter the ceremony of Bhrātṛ-dvitīyā was performed; then the wrath of Indra was exhibited in the shape of torrents of rain and hailstones, and Lord Kṛṣṇa held up Govardhana Hill for seven days, until the ninth day of the moon. Thereafter, on the tenth day, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were talking amongst themselves about the wonderful activities of Kṛṣṇa, and the next day, Ekādaśī, was observed by Nanda Mahārāja. On the next day, Dvādaśī, Nanda Mahārāja went to take a bath in the Ganges and was arrested by one of the men of Varuṇa; then he was released by Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then Nanda Mahārāja, along with the cowherd men, was shown the spiritual sky.
In this way, the full-moon night of the śarat season came to an end. The full-moon night of Āśvina is called śarat-pūrṇimā. It appears from the statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that Kṛṣṇa had to wait another year for such a moon before enjoying the rāsa dance with the gopīs. At the age of seven years He lifted Govardhana Hill. Therefore the rāsa dance took place during His eighth year.
Being very nicely attired, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma looked like elephants dressed with colored clothing on the full-moon day or the dark-moon day.
Krsna Book 41: After this ghastly incident, the employees of the washerman immediately dispersed, leaving the clothing. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma took possession of it and dressed according to Their choice; the rest of the clothes were offered to the cowherd boys, who also used them as they desired. What they did not use remained there. Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and the boys then proceeded along the main road. In the meantime, a devotee-tailor took the opportunity of service and prepared some nice clothes from the cloth for Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Thus being very nicely attired, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma looked like elephants dressed with colored clothing on the full-moon day or the dark-moon day. Kṛṣṇa was very much pleased with the tailor and gave him the benediction of sārūpya-mukti, which means that after leaving his body he would be liberated and would attain a four-handed body exactly like that of Nārāyaṇa in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Kṛṣṇa also granted him that as long as he would live he would earn sufficient opulence to be able to enjoy sense gratification. By this incident Kṛṣṇa proved that those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees will not be lacking material enjoyment of sense gratification. They will have sufficient opportunity for such things, but after leaving this body they will be allowed to enter the spiritual planets of Vaikuṇṭhaloka or Kṛṣṇaloka, Goloka Vṛndāvana.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
That prescription is also very difficult because on the dark moon night the goat has to be sacrifice and there are so many paraphernalia and the mantra, the hymns chanted there.
Lecture on BG 4.24-34 -- New York, August 12, 1966: Now, those who have been in India, perhaps you have seen the goddess Kālī. The goddess Kālī, before the goddess Kālī a goat sacrifice is offered. But the Vedic principle says that if you want to take flesh, then you must sacrifice the goat before the goddess Kālī and then you can take. And that prescription is also very difficult because on the dark moon night the goat has to be sacrifice and there are so many paraphernalia and the mantra, the hymns chanted there... The goat is, I mean to, whispered within the ear that "The man who is sacrificing you, he will be responsible for your life, and for yourself, you are going to get the next life as human being without waiting for the evolutionary process." The animals... There is an evolutionary process.
That is accepted in Darwin's theory also, anthropomorphism. What is that? Anthropology, yes. Not anthropomorphism. Anthropology. Anthropology, there is evolutionary process. So that is accepted in the Vedic literature also.
So the animal which is sacrificed, he gets immediately his evolutionary process developed and promoted from animal life to human life. But the man who is offering that sacrifice, he becomes responsible. These are therefore so many hymns in the Vedic literature. So whole idea is that by offering such sacrifices man is restricted from flesh-eating.
If you want to perform the sacrifice before the goddess Kālī, there is a certain date, there is a certain paraphernalia, you have to arrange for that. And that pūjā, that worship is allowed on the dark moon light. So dark moon night means once in a month.
Lecture on BG 6.6-12 -- Los Angeles, February 15, 1969: Just like a person is attached to eat meat. Now if all of a sudden if he is instructed that meat eating is not good. Or a person is attached to drink liquor. If he at once said that liquor is not good, he cannot accept. Therefore in the Purāṇas we'll find, "All right, if you want to eat meat, you just worship goddess Kālī and sacrifice a goat before the goddess. And you can eat meat. You cannot eat meat or flesh by purchasing from the slaughterhouse or butcher shop. You have to eat in this way." That means restriction. Because if you want to perform the sacrifice before the goddess Kālī, there is a certain date, there is a certain paraphernalia, you have to arrange for that. And that pūjā, that worship is allowed on the dark moon light. So dark moon night means once in a month. And the mantras are chanted in this way; the goat is advised that "You are sacrificing your life before the goddess Kālī. So you get immediately promotion to have a human form of life." Actually it happens. Because to come to the standard of human form of life one living entity has to pass through so many evolutionary process. But the goat who agrees or who is by force sacrificed before the goddess Kālī he gets immediate promotion to the human form of life.
The after the dark moon, the moon comes out just like a line, and then it increases, increases, and one night it becomes full. Similarly, as your heart becomes cleansed of the material dirty things, your real form, sat-cit-ānanda vigrahaḥ, eternity, blissful life of knowledge, becomes visible, just like the moon is visible.
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Sydney, February 16, 1973: Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ. And immediately you'll be relieved from the blazing fire of this material existence. This material existence is compared with a blazing forest fire. Forest fire means... Nobody goes to set fire in the forest, but it takes places automatically. Similarly, in this material world, however peacefully you want to live, without God consciousness, you cannot live peacefully. It is not possible. Forget it. Therefore, if you think of Kṛṣṇa or God always, immediately you'll be free from the conflagration of the blazing fire of this material existence. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ. And as soon as this blazing fire of material existence is extinguished, immediately you come to the platform of blissfulness. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpanaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā (CC Antya 20.12). Then that blissfulness will increase one after another, one after another. Just like the comparison has been given just like the moon. The after the dark moon, the moon comes out just like a line, and then it increases, increases, and one night it becomes full. Similarly, as your heart becomes cleansed of the material dirty things, your real form, sat-cit-ānanda vigrahaḥ, eternity, blissful life of knowledge, becomes visible, just like the moon is visible. And one day you'll come to the full pleasure, full moon night, and that is your sarvātmā snapanam. And at that time you'll enjoy your life like anything. That is our highest perfection of life. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. The only method is chanting this holy name of God, Kṛṣṇa.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
They are regulated. "All right. You want meat, you want to eat meat, all right, then sacrifice one goat before Goddess Kālī and worship her on the on the āmāvāsya, dark moon night." So many regulations.
Lecture on SB 1.2.26 -- Vrndavana, November 6, 1972: So there are different types of human being; therefore there are different types of śāstras, to attract all classes of men. So the meat-eaters, for them, the Vedas says, "Yes," loke vyavāyāmiṣa-madya-sevā nityā hi jantoḥ, "every living being, entity, has a general tendency..." Because he has come here to enjoy, to satisfy the material senses, and material senses means eating meat, drinking wine, and have sex life. This is material, satisfying the material senses. So they are regulated. "All right. You want meat, you want to eat meat, all right, then sacrifice one goat before Goddess Kālī and worship her on the on the āmāvāsya, dark moon night." So many regulations. The real purpose is to restrict him, but if it is directly said that "Don't eat meat," he'll be revolting. Therefore there are so many prescription of worshiping different demigods. Otherwise, there is no necessity. There is no necessity. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ yajante anya-devatāḥ (BG 7.20). Those who are worshiping other demigods, they have become blind, they have lost their senses. Hṛta-jñāna. Hṛta-jñāna. Real knowledge is lost. Real knowledge is lost. Therefore they're after so many demigods. Kṛṣṇa says, "It is not My manufactured word."
You can, I mean to say, cut throat of a goat in the presence of goddess Kālī and you can eat. There are so many prescriptions. But that is also restriction, that Kālī-worship is one day in a month, on the dark moon day. What is called, dark moon?
Lecture on SB 1.5.14 -- New Vrindaban, June 18, 1969: Prabhupāda: Just like the same example, marriage: the real idea is to restrict the boy and the girl to one woman and one man. That is the idea, main idea. If he's not married, then he will be just like cats and dogs. So idea is very good. But Nārada Muni says, "After all, you're coming to the point of sex life. So why so much propaganda?" Similarly, for meat-eating, there is also sanction in the śāstras, tāmasika-śāstra, not sāttvika. There are three divisions of śāstra-sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika. Those who are meat-eaters, cannot give up meat-eating, for them, the prescription is, "All right, you can eat meat, but you have to sacrifice one goat, but not cow." The... For sacrifice the animal is recommended: goat. So you can, I mean to say, cut throat of a goat in the presence of goddess Kālī and you can eat. There are so many prescriptions. But that is also restriction, that Kālī-worship is one day in a month, on the dark moon day. What is called, dark moon? Amāvasyā. Full moon and...? Eh? No, no, no. When there is... On that particular..., there is no moon in the sky.
Hayagrīva(?): The dark of the moon.
Prabhupāda: It is called dark moon, yes. So that Kālī-pūjā is recommended on the dark moon day. The... That is one day in a month. Similarly, according to marriage life, the sex life is also allowed one day in a month. The whole thing is restriction. Similarly, drinking wine also, there is Devī-pūjā. That is also once in a year or something like that. The whole point is restriction. But after all, this is drinking and mating and meat-eating.
Goddess Kālī is worshiped once in a month, on the dark moon day, at night. And there are mantras.
Lecture on SB 2.3.9 -- Los Angeles, May 26, 1972: So my intelligence should be, "Why not go direct to the superior man? Why I am flattering this man?" That is sense. So therefore demigod worship is recommended in Vedas, that one day he may come to his intelligence that "Why demigod? Why not God, personally, directly?" Therefore, it is not that it is encouragement, it is encouragement(?). Just like, you know amongst the Hindus, the flesh-eaters, they're recommended that "If you want to eat meat, then you sacrifice one goat before the goddess Kālī." And Goddess Kālī is worshiped once in a month, on the dark moon day, at night. And there are mantras. The mantras say that... Within the ear of the animal it is said that, "You are sacrificing your life before the deity; so next life, immediately, you get a human form of life. And when you get a human form of life, you'll have the right to kill this man also." This is the mantra. Now, if you are a sane man, understand that "I am killing this goat at the risk of my life in next birth.
As we have got day and night, in the higher planetary system the waxing and waning moon, then when the moon is present there and the sky is in light, that is the day of the higher planetary system. And when the moon is dark, that is the night.
Lecture on SB 6.1.1-4 -- Melbourne, May 20, 1975: If you want to go to the higher planetary system where the demigods live, you can go there. Therefore the karmīs, by performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies, they want elevation to the higher planetary system where the life, prolongation of life is very, very big. As we have got day and night, in the higher planetary system the waxing and waning moon, then when the moon is present there and the sky is in light, that is the day of the higher planetary system. And when the moon is dark, that is the night. That means our fifteen days, in the higher planetary system—twelve hours. Just imagine their year. And such ten thousands of years you can live if you can go to the moon planet. The day and night, fifteen days, your fifteen days, is equal to their one day. No, twelve hours. That means your one month is their one day. Now calculate one day, then thirty days, one month. Then twelve months equal to one year. Such ten thousands of years. Just imagine. You can go there and live like that, yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25), if you like. But that is not eternal life. After that long period, you have to die. So Kṛṣṇa says janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). You are trying to avoid all kinds of miserable condition, but your real miserable condition is your birth, death, old age, and disease. Try to avoid it. That is perfection. That is spiritual life.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Amongst the Hindus, just like Kālī-pūjā, Durgā-pūjā, the animal-eaters, they are given this concession, that "If you want to eat meat, you just worship Goddess Kālī," and this Goddess Kālī worshiping is recommended on the amāvasyā, on the dark moon night, one day in a month, and the dead of night.
Evening Darsana -- July 10, 1976, New York: Prabhupāda: That was not killing. So instead of wasting his time, he said "I don't care for your Vedas. It is my order that you stop if you love me." Here is... You cannot open slaughterhouse, giving reference to the Vedas or any sacrifice, either in the Muhammadans, Jews and everyone. They also make sacrifice. One day in the year they sacrifice. It is not that they recommend open slaughterhouse. This is all nonsense, rākṣasa. That sacrifice also recommended in this sense, that you cannot stop animal killing; there will be a class of men who'll eat meat. To give them some concession, so this is recommended, "All right, if you want to eat meat, you sacrifice." Amongst the Hindus, just like Kālī-pūjā, Durgā-pūjā, the animal-eaters, they are given this concession, that "If you want to eat meat, you just worship Goddess Kālī," and this Goddess Kālī worshiping is recommended on the amāvasyā, on the dark moon night, one day in a month, and the dead of night. So if one goes on eating meat in this way, one day in a month and dead of night, then he automatically will give it up. "So much botheration. Better give it up." Actually denies. "Yes, you can eat once in a month and at the dead of night, when everyone will sleep, nobody can hear the screaming of the animal." These are the recommendations. That is indirectly denying. If one is intelligent, he'll accept it that "Why so much botheration for eating meat? Better give it up."
Correspondence
1973 Correspondence
Just like the sun is great heat and light and by reflecting the greatness of the sun's light the moon in dead of night also appears great, but actually the moon is by nature dark and cold, but in association with sun it has become accepted as great, this is the real position.
Letter to Jahnava -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 1 August, 1973: You have written so many nice things in praise of me but I think that my Guru Maharaja is great, I am not great he is great. So sometimes by association of the great one appears great. Just like the sun is great heat and light and by reflecting the greatness of the sun's light the moon in dead of night also appears great, but actually the moon is by nature dark and cold, but in association with sun it has become accepted as great, this is the real position. So I thank you very much that you are appreciating my Guru Maharaja who wanted to preach Krishna Consciousness all over the world, he is so great.
