However, the original thoughts appear even earlier.
"
Earliest reference.
Anushashana Parva of the Mahabharatha
Yudhiṣṭhira questioning Bhishma on eating meat.
तद इच्छामि गुणाञ शरॊतुं मांसस्याभक्षणे ऽपि वा
भक्षणे चैव ये दॊषास तांश चैव पुरुषर्षभ
...
Bhishma's response concluding with:
अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मस्तथाहिंसा परॊ दमः
अहिंसा परमं दानमहिंसा परमं तपः (Mahābhārata 13.117.37)
This is the origin of the famous Ahimsa Paramo Dharmaha phrase. Ahimsa (non-cruelty towards animals) is the supreme Dharma.
Ahimsa in this context means non-cruelty towards creatures weaker than us.
Thiruvalluvar on Ahimsa
கொல்லான் புலாலை மறுத்தானைக் கைகூப்பி
எல்லா உயிருந் தொழும்.
திருக்குறள் 260-Ch 26
All living things will worship one who doesn't kill & abhors meat.
This குறள் was frequently used by Swami Haridas Giri.
எல்லா உயிருந் தொழும்.
திருக்குறள் 260-Ch 26
All living things will worship one who doesn't kill & abhors meat.
This குறள் was frequently used by Swami Haridas Giri.
Srimad Bhagavatham on hunting
Muchukunda is denied Moksha in his current Janma since he hunted animals in the current body, though he had other good deeds to his name. He is promised Moksha only in his next Janma (birth).
Bhagavad Gita on Ahimsa
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्याग: शान्तिरपैशुनम् |
दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् || 16.2||
Ahimsa described as a virtuous quality of a saint.
Buddha on Ahimsa
The Jain Jivaka criticizes Buddha for eating meat. Buddha does not deny the charge, but says he has not seen the animal killed, nor heard it when it will killed and did not know it was killed for him. So he is exempt from any sin
Buddha's teachers were Alara Kalam & Uddhaka Ramaputra, who were teaching Rishi Kapila's Samkya. Many teachings are derived from Samkya. Kapila on Ahimsa & animal sacrifice.
“The word ajā not only means ‘goat’. It also means ‘seed’. If you, purohitas, wish to sacrifice, you may sacrifice a seed”
-Kapila(as one of the seven Nivrtti sages)
(MB XII.324)
“No law is higher than non-violence”
-Kapila to the sage Syumareshmi (seeing an animal tied up for sacrifice)
( Mahabharata XII.260.17)
“Fearlessness to all living beings from my side! Svaha!”
-Kapila
(Baudhayana Grihya Sutra, 4.16.4)
Buddha also followed suit & criticized animal sacrifice but did not prohibit meat.
The Jain Jivaka criticizes Buddha for eating meat. Buddha does not deny the charge, but says he has not seen the animal killed, nor heard it when it will killed and did not know it was killed for him. So he is exempt from any sin
In ancient and Medieval India, schools which criticized Buddhism on meat eating, like Jains and Vaishnavas, actually targeted Buddhism on this point. They said "if only Butcher gets sin and everybody else is exempt from it, nobody wants to be a butcher."
There is a record which says that Buddha died after he ate pork(sukara maddava) as his last meal. Mahayanists dispute this meaning. Whatever may have been his cause of his death, other Suttas give us the clear information that Buddha ate pork (Sukara Mamsa).
Buddha does not prohibit meat among the things which could be legibly consumed by Buddhists. When Devadutta proposed the introduction of Vegetarianism among Buddhists, Buddha explicitly declined it.
Buddha however put a restriction for formality. He said whoever did not see and hear the slaughter of animal and did not know it was killed for them could eat the meat without any sin attached to them. This restriction exempts everyone except butchers from sin (who would see, hear the slaughter or know it was specifically for them) . You acquire sin of meat eating if you are a butcher or if you see the animal killed. This was Buddha's position.
What is more surprising is the fact that even early Jains had such a position. Oldest Jain scriptures include meat among the foods that could be consumed by Jain monks.
When Buddhists and Jains did not themselves have any such concept of Vegetarianism, how fair is it to trace the idea back to them? Among all the oldest scriptures, I would say Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata is the strongest proponent of Vegetarianism. Here, Bhishma is a very clear and unequivocal proponent of Ethical Vegetarianism. I would still say Vegetarianism was a Pan-Dharmic ideological movement which emerged after the vedic age. The Brahmin and Vaishnava texts began to clearly prefer vegetarianism. While Manusmriti does not prohibit meat eating, it still says vegetarianism is preferable because no animal would be killed. This was the period when Jains became fully Vegetarian and even a Buddhist like Ashoka began to adopt it.
Early Jain scriptures list meat among accepted foods is a consensus among Jain scholarship. Source: Early Jain scriptures & the works of Jain scholarship like Flugel and Suzoko Ohira. Eg: Snippet from the work of American Indologist Bronkhorst who discusses meat and fish in Jain canonical scriptures and speculates that Jains may have turned Vegetarian only after their mass exodus from Mathura https://imgur.com/a/xeNJt93 Another Source: Upinder Singh and DN Jha( in his book on the myth of Holy cow).
Early Jain scriptures list meat among accepted foods is a consensus among Jain scholarship. Source: Early Jain scriptures & the works of Jain scholarship like Flugel and Suzoko Ohira. Eg: Snippet from the work of American Indologist Bronkhorst who discusses meat and fish in Jain canonical scriptures and speculates that Jains may have turned Vegetarian only after their mass exodus from Mathura https://imgur.com/a/xeNJt93 Another Source: Upinder Singh and DN Jha( in his book on the myth of Holy cow).
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https://www.reddit.com/r/indianews/comments/a21a6b/hello_reddit/eawizzr/
Manusmriti:
"There is no sin in eating meat...but abstention brings greater reward." (MS 5.56)
"By not harming any living being one becomes fit for salvation" (MS 6.60)
https://twitter.com/vajrayudha11/status/1183585141735772160
Manusmriti:
"There is no sin in eating meat...but abstention brings greater reward." (MS 5.56)
"By not harming any living being one becomes fit for salvation" (MS 6.60)
https://twitter.com/vajrayudha11/status/1183585141735772160
chapter 5 verse 45 of Manusmriti says:
“He who injures innoxious beings from a wish to (give) himself pleasure, never finds happiness, neither living nor dead”
Manusmriti 5.47 says:
“He who does not injure any (creature), attains without an effort what he thinks of, what he undertakes, and what he fixes his mind on.”
“Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to (the attainment of) heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun (the use of) meat.”
Manusmriti 5.49 says:
“Having well considered the (disgusting) origin of flesh and the (cruelty of) fettering and slaying corporeal beings, let him entirely abstain from eating flesh.”
Manusmriti 5.51 says:
“He who permits (the slaughter of an animal), he who cuts it up, he who kills it, he who buys or sells (meat), he who cooks it, he who serves it up, and he who eats it, (must all be considered as) the slayers (of the animal).”
Research:
@TrueIndology
Further references:
Yajurvedam 12.32: May you not kill any creature by your body (मा हिन्सिस्तन्वा प्रजा:)
Atharva-vedam 19.48.5: noble souls are those who protect all animals (पशुं ये सर्वान् रक्षन्ति) & also prays that our behavior does not afflict any animal.
Atharva-vedam 6.140.2: "let’s our teeth eat rise, beans, sesame but not anything which is capable of being father & mother"
Bhagvata Puranam 10.10.9: Those who kill innocent animals are bad.
Brahmanda Puranam 1.2.30.17-21 says that it is evil to cause injury to animals in Yajna.
Mahabharata, Anushasana Parvam 114.15 says that foolish meat eaters will not be able to enjoy the pleasure of heaven because they will never attain it.
Markandeya Puranam 15.43-45: “Compassion towards all Creatures are qualities of sinless”
Sri Krishna in Bhagvath Gita 16.2 describes Ahimsa as a high quality of a person.
Vishnu Puranam 3.8.10 “Those who do violence against others, they do it against Lord Viṣṇu as he is present in all beings.”
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