Why eating live plants is not a sin
*Anatomy of Material Nature* -
There are 84 lakh species in this world. Every living entity is having a soul, jiva tattva. Which soul will get which body is decided based on their Prarabdh. This way the cycle continues.Lord Krishna being the supreme personality of godhead resides inside the body of each living entities in the form of super-soul. paramātmeti cāpy ukto, dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ - BG 13.23.At what time the soul will leave the body, and have another body is decided only by krsna, as because he is the supreme proprietor of the body of that living entity. In the same verse he says I am the overseer and permitter of the living entity.When one kills a living entity for food, he actually tries to override the rule of Prakriti. As Prakriti is always in the control of the lord, by such act the person not only commits a great sin but also, he challenges the supreme authority of Lord krsna upon the entire universe. This way he becomes the most fallen. If someone commits a offence directly to the Lord, the lord may forgive it with his mercy. But if someone does offence to the living entities who are under the direct supervision of the lord, the lord never forgives such acts.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has clearly established the fundamental principle of devotion. I.e., Jive Daya, krsna Nama Pran Saar. It means, the very basic foundation of Bhakti is Karuna I.e., affection towards all the living entities. If one is not affectionate towards other living entities, and gives priority to his own sense objects e.g., kills an animal to satisfy taste of tongue; he cannot cultivate devotion at all. This is because, that person is going fundamentally opposite to the nature of devotion. As described by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, affection is that very container where the seed of devotion germinates. If one doesn’t have that container itself, there is no chance of going further.
*The Krsna Consciousness Perspective -*
When one accepts the authority of krsna and becomes his devotee, he develops a Priti or natural deep affection towards the lord. A devotee treats the lord as the most affectionate relationship. His only goal is to satisfy krsna and not to satisfy his own senses. Therefore whatever he has, he offers it first to krsna, and whatever is the remnants of krsna that becomes his Prasad. By taking Prasad he develops more Priti towards the load.When two persons are in deep relation, they take care of their likes and dislikes. They offer only such food items which the other persons seeks. This ways the relationship nourishes. Likewise if we are devotees, we should offer only such things to krsna which he likes or seeks from us. It is very important to understand here that irrespective of whether we are eating vegitarian or non-vegetarian, if we are eating without offering to krsna, we are liable to get punished. This is because we are eating without offering to the supplier i.e. krsna, we are eating only sins. By offering krsna the food prepared by us in the most affectionate ways first, we can get rid of the implementations of sinful activities. This is krsna consciousness.Now what we can offer to krsna .The lord in bhagwatgita says - patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁyo me bhaktyā prayacchatitad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtamaśnāmi prayatātmanaḥIf one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.This way, two things are made clear by the lord himself -1. Whatever food items we can offer to Lord, it has to be one among the 4 varieties explained by him2. The three varieties I.e., patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ although being part of plants or trees, which also are living entries. But these are approved by the lord himself. The instructions of the lord in Bhagwatgita are only for human beings, and hence this establishes the fact that when we are offering these to the lord, we are just satisfying him by following his instructions. In other way, there is nowhere mentioned in Sastra that one should offer anything apart from these items to lord in bhoga. Hence, as we are offering these items to the lord himself, as per his instructions, after offering we are allowed to take them as Prasadam also. This is the simple logic.
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga.
Hare Krsna
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