Should we take cow milk when it is obtained by causing violence to cows?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
there is one question which was asked to me during the break so it was about when we take nowadays there is cow product cows they are also subjected to violence and cow milk is a product of violence so should we take such dairy products or not see in spiritual life there are issues of principle and there are issues of preference so for example chanting Hare Krishna is a matter of principle now whether to sit and chant or stand and chant, to walk and chant that is a matter of preference so if issues of preference are made into issues of principle then we become fanatical like yes issues of preference means this is how I will be best inspired to do it so now here with respect to milk broadly speaking traditionally milk has been very much integral part the cow has been integral part of spiritual culture and our milk is considered very sacred, very uplifting to the consciousness and Prabhupada’s books do talk a lot about the importance of taking milk so that is the traditional reality the contemporary reality is that the milk which is got today from the cows it is cows are subjected to terrible torture and extortion so they are subjected to pain and the more we take that milk we are actually contributing to the system so the best solution would be that we get milk from cows which are treated more humane, treated more kindly the devotees or people associated with devotees they can come up and make ahimsa milk, that would be the best solution and there are increasing number of places where this can be possible this is being done now where that is not possible then even in the devotee community in the different kinds of people, see every tradition it has it has two connections the tradition has to be connected to the past, every living tradition the living tradition’s connection with the past is the fidelity connection in the past and its connection with its present it is flexibility now when it is connected with the past then it represents the past and brings it to the future, into the present but if it is connected only with the past and not with the present then the tradition becomes not a living tradition it becomes a museum artifact because it is no longer relevant to the people around us so if the tradition is only connected with the present and not connected with the past then what happens, the tradition doesn’t remain a tradition it just becomes an addition to the contemporary landscape so there has to be a balance of fidelity which connects one to the past and flexibility which connects one to the present, now within the devotee community there will be some devotees who will focus much more on fidelity than flexibility this is what was done in the past and that is what we should be doing, whatever happens today doesn’t matter but there will be other devotees who will focus more on flexibility yes it was done like that but what is the effect on it today it is not a good thing so we have to be aware of the current reality and act accordingly and you know for both these devotees, those who focus more on fidelity and those who focus more on flexibility, they all can find course from scripture, course from Srila Prabhupada to support their positions so when there is when there is no clear-cut siddhantic issue involved so there are two principles, one is that we should take cows the other is that we should not cause violence to cows so there are two clear scripture principles and now which principle to give more importance to that is a matter of preference, so some devotees may be inspired that no, we have to take milk that’s what Prabhupada told, that’s why we take milk and they say no but we don’t want to cause violence so whichever there is always scope for individuality in bhakti there is scope for individuality because ultimately we are all individuals so we have that understanding that there is scope for individuality, when we use scriptural intelligence, we consult Srila Devotee Shastra and then based on our intelligence, we decide what I should do so these are issues of preference and there is no need to go on a campaign for or against whatever we are inspired to do, we can do so thank you very much