Holy Name Retreat--An Elixir for the Soul

19 October 2013--We are now here at the Holy Name Retreat in a rural retreat center near Ezerelis, Lithuania. About 50 devotees have gathered here for an ecstatic bhakti-surcharged weekend of diving deeper and deeper into the ocean of Krishna's holy names. The more we chant Hare Krishna and enter into the unlimitedly sublime glories of Krishna, the more the atmosphere becomes surcharged with sweetness. It's an intense day for me giving four lectures. But it is an incredible elixir for the soul. With each lecture I am feeling more and more spiritual bliss and spiritual energy.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Ecstatic Holy Name Retreat--Ezerelis, Lithuania --19 October 2013

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: By Eating Vegetarian Food Do We Incur Sin?

Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

Please solve my doubt:

Recently I come across a question regarding vegetarian food that we eat after offering it to the Lord. Vegetables and plants are also living beings with souls, although their consciousness is at a lower level. Even though we do not eat meat, still we are killing and eating the vegetables. Our critics say that eating animal meat and eating vegetables both involve violence therefore we vegetarians also incur sins. Is this true?

Pravin,

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Answer: Yes, Unless We First Offer It to Krishna

It is a fact that if we kill an animal or we kill a vegetable to eat it, in both cases we are guilty of the sin of murder. But if we first offer our foods to Krishna before eating them, we are freed from the karma of killing. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita 3.13. However, this does not mean that we can offer meat to Krishna, because Krishna lists in Bhagavad-gita 9.26 what kind of foods can be offered to Him. He only lists vegetarian foods. He does not list meat, fish, and eggs. If Krishna had wanted us to offer Him meat, He would included it in His list of offerable items.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari