Animal Welfare and Nature: Hindu Scriptural Perspectives (Second Edition)
By G. Naganathan, Foreword by Dr. Karan Singh with an Introduction by Dr. Michael W. Fox.
30 Pages |This book was originally a publication of the Centre of Respect for Life and Environment, Washington. First edition 1991, second edition 2000. With illustrations | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170594170.
In the Hindu view of life, all creation is linked together by a golden thread, because all manifestation has sprung from the eternal Brahman - Ishvasyamidam Sarvam Yatkincha Jagatyam Jagat - as the Upanishad has it. The seers of the Vedas, therefore prayed for the Welfare not only of the human race but for all living creatures, including animals, and indeed even for such apparently inanimate objects as trees and plants. Animals have always played a central role in the Hindu perception. In its mythology every God and Goddess is associated with a particular animal as its vehicle or vahana.
From the Foreword:
" The point that emerges is that animals are not to be looked upon as creatures to be cruelly exploited but as partners with human beings in the spiritual adventure of living. Indeed, although hunting was also an old Hindu tradition, it is surely significant that in both our great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, tragedy should have been triggered by hunting episodes. The whole question of animals as bound to human beings in a benign symbiosis receives considerable attention in the Hindu scriptural tradition, the most popular of which, of course, became the cow, which is still looked upon by millions as sacred. "
Animal Welfare and Nature: Hindu Scriptural Perspectives (Second Edition)
By G. Naganathan, Foreword by Dr. Karan Singh with an Introduction by Dr. Michael W. Fox.
30 Pages |This book was originally a publication of the Centre of Respect for Life and Environment, Washington. First edition 1991, second edition 2000. With illustrations | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170594170.
In the Hindu view of life, all creation is linked together by a golden thread, because all manifestation has sprung from the eternal Brahman – Ishvasyamidam Sarvam Yatkincha Jagatyam Jagat – as the Upanishad has it. The seers of the Vedas, therefore prayed for the Welfare not only of the human race but for all living creatures, including animals, and indeed even for such apparently inanimate objects as trees and plants. Animals have always played a central role in the Hindu perception. In its mythology every God and Goddess is associated with a particular animal as its vehicle or vahana.
From the Foreword:
” The point that emerges is that animals are not to be looked upon as creatures to be cruelly exploited but as partners with human beings in the spiritual adventure of living. Indeed, although hunting was also an old Hindu tradition, it is surely significant that in both our great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, tragedy should have been triggered by hunting episodes. The whole question of animals as bound to human beings in a benign symbiosis receives considerable attention in the Hindu scriptural tradition, the most popular of which, of course, became the cow, which is still looked upon by millions as sacred. “