Non-Violence 55
however, feed and nurture cows so that both the calves and the humans can benefit from the cows’ milk. This has been the practice from time immemorial. If you feed a cow well, it can produce up to fifteen liters of milk a day. If you feed it well it will produce more than the normal amount of milk so you would not be depriving the calf of its share and letting it go hungry.
Killing a Carnivore
Questioner: There is violence in killing any animal, but is it also considered violent when you go around killing animals that hurt and kill others?
Dadashri: Your intention should be not to do violence against any living entity. Even if you do not kill a snake, there will always be someone else who will. You may not have the strength to kill it but many will, so do not spoil your good intentions. There is no advantage in violence of any kind; it only harms you.
Survival of the Fittest
Questioner: Humans live by using their intellect, so they should not hurt other living things. Some animals prey on others. The difference between animals and humans is that only humans have intellect. What about violence taking place within the animal kingdom?
Dadashri: You are not responsible for violence amongst animals. Violence is constantly occurring in the vast oceans, because no farms or grain-stores are found there. The larger fish sit around with their mouths gaping wide open and the smaller fish just swim into them. That is the law of nature, and no one is responsible for it. In the world, the larger life forms prey on the smaller ones and the smaller ones prey on the smallest. That is how the world operates. Everything is allowed until one acquires birth as a human being with discriminating intellect. No one in the animal world tries to rescue the smaller life forms, while some humans attempt to save animals.