The Bhagavadgîtâ, with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ — SBE Vol. 8 (trans. K. T. Telang, 1882)
The translator’s English as printed (K. T. Telang). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
The Adhvaryu said:
You enjoy the earth’s quality of fragrance, you drink watery juices, you see the colours of shining bodies, you touch the qualities of the air, you hear the sound produced in space, you think by the mind (on the objects of) mental operations. And all these entities, you believe, have life. You have not (then) abstained from taking life. You are (engaged) in the slaughter (of living creatures), There is no movement* without slaughter (of living creatures). Or what do you think, O twice-born one ?
* This is not very clear, but the meaning seems to be that the slaughter is committed for the enjoyment of the sacrificer ; the sacrificer only requires fuel, and the slaughtered animal is then used for that purpose. * Cf Khandogya, p. 627, and next note; and Gita, inter alia, P. 114, and p. 348 infra, * See Sankhyatattvakaumudi, p. 7.
* Le. a rule expressly laid down, What is not visible means what is not expressly stated, but is to be derived by inference, and so forth (cf. Apastamba I, 1, 4,8). The express text is the famous one, ‘Na himsyâtsarvâ bhûtâni.’ Himsa, which is rendered slaughter here, may mean also ‘giving pain’ generally.
5 This is the tu quoque argument, The sustentation of life requires some sort of slaughter. $ Le. the support of the body, says Arguna Misra,
The Adhvaryu said:
You enjoy the fragrance that belongs to earth, you drink the juices that belong to water, you see the colours of luminous bodies, you touch the qualities of air, you hear the sound produced in space, you think through the mind on the objects of mental activity. And all these entities, you believe, have life. You have not, then, abstained from taking life. You are engaged in the slaughter of living creatures. There is no movement without the slaughter of living creatures. Or what do you think, O twice-born one?
* This is not very clear, but the meaning seems to be that the slaughter is carried out for the sacrificer's enjoyment; the sacrificer needs only fuel, and the slaughtered animal is then put to that use. * Cf. Khandogya, p. 627, and next note; and Gita, inter alia, p. 114, and p. 348 infra. * See Sankhyatattvakaumudi, p. 7.
* That is, a rule expressly laid down. "What is not visible" means what is not expressly stated but is to be derived by inference and so forth (cf. Apastamba I, 1, 4, 8). The express text is the famous one, "Na himsyâtsarvâ bhûtâni." Hiṃsā, rendered here as slaughter, can also mean "giving pain" in a general sense.
5 This is the tu quoque argument. The sustentation of life requires some sort of slaughter. $ That is, the support of the body, says Arjuna Misra.