In the previous episode, we had commenced witnessing the crux of Sage Sukhaachaarya’s detailed explanation of what is “Naraka Lokha” and who goes into it! In fact, we have already witnessed that this “Naraka Lokha” is not just one in number, unlike the “Svarga Lokha” and the ultimate “Vaikunta” where Bhagawan resides. There are apparently twenty-five different Naraka Lokhas, into which, people performing various “categories” of bad actions would enter into! In this regard, yesterday we had witnessed few of those categories, wherein Sage Sukhaachaarya says that if a person thinks of and tries to abduct the property of others in an offensive and violent way, he / she is sure to reach “Naraka Lokha”. Here we should note that it is not only about doing a bad action. The result is the same even if we “think” of doing something bad to someone! This is where we need to be extremely careful and watchful in each and every action that we do. Similarly, if we’re promising some help to someone and fail in our words, this also invites us into the “Naraka Lokha”! If someone asks us for a help and at that moment, we give them an assurance to fulfill their needs, only to dismiss their request at a later stage for whatsoever reason – This is a direct invitation for us to enter into the “Naraka Lokha”! Similarly, if we mask the truth in such a way that another person is going to be affected by this in the court of law, this is one of the biggest sins which is going to put the “red carpet” for us to enter the “Naraka Lokha”! In the same lines, if we’re going to inflict any sort of hurt to an animal, including cows, dogs, sheep, goat, insects, etc. this is also going to “escort” us to the “Naraka Lokha”!
In this context, we concluded yesterday’s episode with an intriguing question thus – How can we manage our food habits if we’re having such a rule of not killing animals? Various people eat various things out there in the world. So, is this statement of Sage Sukhaachaarya applicable to all of us in some form or the other? The answer is an unfortunate and a stunning “Yes”! This is why we often keep saying that it is not good on our part to harm any animal – Be it a dog or a cat or a cow or whatever! In today’s world we witness animals being tortured and killed, right in front of our eyes. According to Sage Sukhaachaarya, all those who are involved in such heinous crimes, are sure to reach the “Naraka Lokha”. Thus we infer here that, we should only consume vegetarian food and if we’ve to avoid all of these “Naraka Lokha” possibilities, we should mend ourselves by ignoring those food items that are derived out of killing and torturing animals.
We should think for a moment here – Does any living being in this world want to die voluntarily? Forget an animal – Will we do that in the first place? What would be the mindset of a poor and a helpless animal when it is about to get killed? Or rather, what would be the mindset of the mother of that poor animal which is witnessing its own child getting killed in the hands of a butcher? Won’t the mother be in agitation if its own child is being tortured and meted out with death, for no fault of its? If this were to happen to us, how would we feel? For instance, if we witness either our child or parents or brother or sister being tortured and killed by someone for no fault of theirs, right in front of our own eyes, what would we feel? Won’t the same feeling come for that poor animal too? Our Sanaathana Dharma explains clearly that if we kill an animal for consumption or whatever, the animal lets out an extremely bad vibration while dying thus: “Oh no! I’m being killed for no fault of mine! Who will take care of my calf after I die? Why is this human being so merciless in treating me like this?” This bad vibration gets transferred to us when we consume the dead body of this poor animal and eventually our physical and mental balance gets disturbed! If we do not possess the physical and mental balance, how are we going to progress spiritually?
This might sound a bit emotional and might not even make sense for some people who are reading through this. But having said that, this is the hard fact and we’ve to accept it and move on! As Sage Sukhaachaarya clearly explains, if we harm an animal in any form or means, we’re sure to reach the “Naraka Lokha”, wherein we would be harmed the same way as we’ve done to the poor animal! Many of us might know what the repercussions are of reaching this dreaded “Naraka Lokha” – This is a place where we are meted out with the punishments for all what we’ve done during our lifetime on this world! The “Naraka Lokha” is not like our Indian judiciary! It is going to be severe and it’s virtually impossible to get away from it, unlike the Indian court of Law, wherein everyone committing all sorts of crime gets away easily!
As we discuss this point on animal killing and torturing, we might have one question in mind – We might agree that we shouldn’t consume non-vegetarian food, however, is it wrong to consume milk too? Because, milk comes from the cow and aren’t we hurting the cow in the pretext of drawing milk from it? The answer to this question is very important – It is not wrong to consume milk, which comes from the cow. This is because, the cow voluntarily gives milk, out of love for its calf. If this milk is not extracted from the cow, this would hurt it. Thus, the normal procedure that we should follow here is that, we should allow the cow to feed its milk to its calf, and only after that, we shall consume the rest of the milk that the cow gives. However, what is wrong in this context is, harassing the cow to give more milk, feeding the cow with some “artificial medicines” to induce more milking ability, torturing the cow so that it gives more milk, not allowing the cows to graze around, etc. If we perform any of these above-mentioned activities, we should remember that the “Naraka Lokha” is waiting for us with open arms!
Thus for today, let us realize the important point that we should in any way not harm any animal in this world. Through this point, we should also drive home the corollary here that it is harmful for our spiritual progress if we consume non-vegetarian food. Thus, as ardent followers of Sanaathana Dharma, we should refrain from doing so, because, by consuming non-vegetarian food, we are going to take unwanted bad vibrations within us, which is going to make us either “Raajasic” or “Taamasic” in nature! So let us think of these points for today and let’s signal a positive change! We shall wait till the next episode to continue more on this! Stay tuned! 😊
The Indian Dharma 