Chapter 207

“Markandeya continued, ‘The pious fowler, O Yudhishthira, then said tothat Brahmana, ‘Undoubtedly my deeds are very cruel, but, O Brahmana,Destiny is all-powerful and it is difficult to evade the consequence ofour past actions. And this is the karmic evil arising out of sincommitted in a former life. But, O Brahmana, I am always assiduous ineradicating the evil. The Deity takes away life, the executioner actsonly as a secondary agent. And we, O good Brahmana, are only such agentsin regard to our karma. Those animals that are slain by me and whose meatI sell, also acquire karma, because (with their meat), gods and guestsand servants are regaled with dainty food and the manes are propitiated.It is said authoritatively that herbs and vegetables, deer, birds andwild animals constitute the food of all creatures. And, O Brahmana, kingSivi, the son of Usinara, of great forbearance attained to heaven, whichis hard to reach, giving away his own flesh. And in days of yore, OBrahmana, two thousand animals used to be killed every day in the kitchenof king Rantideva; and in the same manner two thousand cows were killedevery day; and, O best of regenerate beings, king Rantideva acquiredunrivalled reputation by distributing food with meat every day. For theperformance of the fourmonthly rites animals ought to be sacrificeddaily. ‘The sacred fire is fond of animal food,’ this saying has comedown to us. And at sacrifices animals are invariably killed by regenerateBrahmanas, and these animals being purged of sin, by incantation ofhymns, go to heaven. If, O Brahmana, the sacred fire had not been so fondof animal food in ancient times, it could never have become the food ofany one. And in this matter of animal food, this rule has been laid downby Munis:–Whoever partakes of animal food after having first offered itduly and respectfully to the gods and the manes, is not polluted by theact. And such a man is not at all considered to have partaken of animalfood, even, as a Brahmacharin having intercoursed with his wife duringthe menstrual period, is nevertheless considered to be a good Brahmana.After consideration of the propriety and impropriety of the matter, thisrule has been laid down. King Saudasa, O Brahmana, when under a curse,often used to prey upon men; what is thy opinion of this matter? And, Ogood Brahmana, knowing this to be the consequence of my own actions, Iobtain my livelihood from this profession. The forsaking of one’s ownoccupation is considered, O Brahmana, to be a sin, and the act ofsticking to one’s own profession is without doubt a meritorious act. TheKarma of a former existence never forsakes any creature. And indetermining the various consequences of one’s Karma, this rule was notlost sight of by the Creator. A person having his being under theinfluence of evil Karma, must always consider how he can atone for hisKarma, and extricate himself from an evil doom, and the evil Karma may beexpiated in various ways. Accordingly, O good Brahmana, I am charitable,truthful, assiduous in attending on my superior, full of respect towardsregenerate Brahmanas, devoted to and free from pride and (idle) excessivetalk. Agriculture is considered to be a praiseworthy occupation, but itis well-known that even there, great harm is done to animal life; and inthe operation of digging the earth with the plough, numberless creatureslurking in the ground as also various other forms of animal life aredestroyed. Dost thou not think so? O good Brahmana, Vrihi and other seedsof rice are all living organisms. What is thy opinion on this matter?Men, O Brahmana, hunt wild animals and kill them and partake of theirmeat; they also cut up trees and herbs; but, O Brahmana, there arenumberless living organisms in trees, in fruits, as also in water; dostthou not think so? This whole creation, O Brahmana, is full of animallife, sustaining itself with food derived from living organisms. Dostthou not mark that fish preys upon fish, and that various species ofanimals prey upon other species, and there are species the members ofwhich prey upon each other? Men, O Brahmana, while walking about hitherand thither, kill numberless creatures lurking in the ground by tramplingon them, and even men of wisdom and enlightenment destroy animal life invarious ways, even while sleeping or reposing themselves. What hast thouto say to this?–The earth and the air all swarm with living organisms,which are unconsciously destroyed by men from mere ignorance. Is not thisso? The commandment that people should not do harm to any creature, wasordained of old by men, who were ignorant of the true facts of the case.For, O Brahmana, there is not a man on the face of this earth, who isfree from the sin of doing injury to creatures. After full consideration,the conclusion is irresistible that there is not a single man who is freefrom the sin of doing injury to animal life. Even the sage, O goodBrahmana, whose vow is to do harm to no creature, doth inflict injury toanimal life. Only, on account of greater needfulness, the harm is less.Men of noble birth and great qualities perpetrate wicked acts in defianceof all, of which they are not at all ashamed. Good men acting in anexemplary way are not commended by other good men; nor are bad men actingin a contrary way praised by their wicked compeers; and friends are notagreeable to friends, albeit endowed with high qualities; and foolishpedantic men cry down the virtues of their preceptors. This reversal ofthe natural order of things, O good Brahmana, is seen everywhere in thisworld. What is thy opinion as to the virtuousness or otherwise of thisstate of things? There is much that can be said of the goodness orbadness of our actions. But whoever is addicted to his own properoccupation surely acquires great reputation.