Radhe! What is your opinion on VEGANISM in regards
to Kṛṣṇa-bhakti? For 9 weeks my
wife and I went on a vegan-diet and we BOTH experienced a loss and diminution
of our bhakti...we distanced ourselves more and more from Sri Sri Radha
Mohan...
Advaitadās -Veganism it is not Vedic or Vaiṣṇava. Offerings to the Lord
are detailed in śāstra, like Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta and Śrī Govinda Līlāmṛta.
Friend - what about the "cruelty" against
the cows...offering their "tortured" milk is bad
not suitable for Kṛṣṇa. Is it not much more
merciful to offer the milk of these poor cows to Kṛṣṇa and they get benefit?
Advaitadās - Yes. Horrible as the status quo may be, at least
some of their milk will be used in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Is it not much more merciful to offer
the milk of these poor cows to Kṛṣṇa and they get benefit still? If you boycott a poor
man he will starve. It is the little we can do for them. Let’s face it – 1 in 7
human beings is Hindu. We will not convince the 6,000,000,000 others to protect
mother cow, and we will have to live in this world somehow.”
Friend - IMHO, vegans put THEIR personal
"stuff" over the desire of Kṛṣṇa, right? For their well-being…..
Advaitadās - It can be meant compassionately but it deprives
the poor cows from that little service they can give.
Friend - A vegan-abhisekha is aparadha, right?
Advaitadās - What is in the abhisek then, just water? Fruit-juice?
Coca cola?
Friend - I experienced one and it felt wrong -
soya-milk, soya-yoghurt
Advaitadās - This is all speculation - hippy/new age samskāra…..
Friend - "Actually, in my line of bhakti, we
consider ourselves to be maidservants of Srimati Radhika, manjaris. To REALLY please
Kṛṣṇa, we have to take shelter
(āśraya) in those who LOVE Him
the most. Srimati Radhika loves Kṛṣṇa the most and we are Her intimate friends. Is She
offerering Him vegan sweets? Tofu? Seitan? Nope. Name ONE non-dairy sweet which
Kṛṣṇa loves!"
This I wrote in an article. How can we refuse to
offer milk?
Advaitadās - Right. Dairy is essential to kṛṣṇa-bhakti.”
Friend - Can you back this up? I like that
Advaitadās - like I said, look at Govinda Līlāmṛta, 3.44-60 –
Mother Yaśodā said: “O mother Lalite!
Make Rasālā, condensed milk with sugar and camphor! O Viśākhe! Quickly make
Ṣārab (a dairy-drink with sugar, cardamom, ghī and honey)! O Śaśilekhe! Make
Śikhariṇī (a similar dairy-delicacy)! O daughter Campaka-late! Make buttermilk
(mathita)!............O Sudevi! Make kṣīra-sāra (sweet rice)!............O
Manojñe! Mike ripe mango-juice and keep it in condensed milk (kṣīra-yuta) with
sugar! O Kilimbe! Make ghī from the milk which was taken from the cow Sugandhā
this morning an from which I churned yoghurt (payaso dadhinī)! O Ambike!
Slightly stir the milk that Nanda Mahārāja personally milked from the cow
Dhavalā and which he sent here for Krṣṇa-Balarāma’s consumption! O girls!
Quickly take the best milk, which was taken from the meadows by the
milk-porters, on the stove and start slowly stirring it!”
Friend - Many angas of
bhakti include "milk" in one form or the other, right? puja, too. ghee...
Advaitadās - Best to make ghee yourself. But milk is
everywhere...
These are the top 10 cattle and
beef producing countries –
Beef production (1000 MT CWE)
Rank Country 2009 2010
1 United States 11,889 11,789
2 Brazil 8,935 9,300
3 EU-27 7,970 7,920
4 China 5,764 5,550
5 Argentina 3,400 2,800
6 India 2,610 2,760 (up 5.7%)
7 Australia 2,100 2,075
8 Mexico 1,700 1,735
9 Russia 1,285 1,260
10 Pakistan 1,226 1,250
So taking dairy in India is
almost as violent as in the EU or US. I have a kapha-constitution so my face is
always full of mucus. Hence I take little to no dairy myself, as it greatly
increases mucus. I’m vegan by default. But being vegan without having a
mucus-problem, or showering the deities with juice or soy milk is really māyā. There are many who argue
that dairy is really unhealthy, as are fried and sweet things. I am not saying
one should overindulge in these things, but to refuse mahā-prasāda or caraṇāmṛta
because of dairy, sugar, fat or chilli will cause aparādha. One can take a
small quantity, to honor the Lord. I knew a devotee in Amsterdam who refused
prasāda because it was ‘too fatty, sweet, spicy, milky’ – he died of cancer
aged 33, while I knew Bengali devotees who indulged in all these things and
became 96-97 years old. You do not live long by your own scheming, but by the
will of the lord. Māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke.
