Our Children\u2019s Book on 10 Yamas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\")
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This story about ahimsa, non-injury, is from the children\u2019s book Ten
\nTales About Self Control.
\nHOW OUR FAMILY BECAME VEGETARIANS AGAIN
\nJanaki walked down the road, soaking in the spectacular view
\nof Stone Mountain, even as the sun\u2019s rays lit it up like a glowing
\nmonument carved by nature. The walk back from school was
\nnever boring. She looked at the view, thinking that her home
\nwas a lot like the mountain\u2014steady, strong, providing shelter
\nfor her and her elder sisters Vani and Reshma.
\nAs the three of them reached home, their mother opened the
\ndoor and the wonderful smell of fresh dosas reached their
\nnoses. Janaki took a deep breath and said, \u201cMa, I\u2019m hungry.\u201d
\nHer mother gave her a hug and said, \u201cWash first and come
\ndown.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy dosas and not chicken pastries today, Ma?\u201d asked Janaki.
\n\u201cI just wanted you to taste the excellent chutney and sambar
\nwhich Sunitha Aunty made for all of you.\u201d Amma looked at the
\nthree girls and saw their innocent faces. Janaki, the youngest,
\nwas barely eight years old. Vani was twelve and tall for her age.
\nReshma, fourteen, was already blossoming into a young
\nwoman.
\n\u201cWhy does Aunty only make vegetarian food? Can\u2019t she learn to
\neat chicken like us?\u201d asked Vani, dipping a piece of dosa into
\nthe steaming hot sambar.
\nAmma averted her eyes and said, \u201cYou girls know that your
\ngrandma was a vegetarian, and your father and I were
\nvegetarians, too, when we were in India. Somehow it is easy to
\nbe vegetarians in India, with most of our relatives and friends
\nbeing vegetarians; but after coming to the US, we sort of
\nadjusted ourselves to American culture, and we began eating
\nnonvegetarian food. All of you, I know, are comfortable with
\nboth vegetarian and nonvegetarian food, and we aren\u2019t forcing
\nany particular food habits on you. But there are days when I
\nremember my own mother and I wish I had never started eating
\nnonvegetarian food. My mother was so slim and healthy. Even
\nat eighty, she could see well, hear well and actually take care of
\nherself. I wonder if I\u2019ll be able to do that at her age. Well,
\nenough talk about food. Tell me about your day at school.\u201d
\nJanaki suddenly said, \u201cAmma, the other day when we went to
\nthe temple, the priest was talking to a few children about
\nMahatma Gandhi and how he was a vegetarian. He was also
\ntelling us something about ahimsa, but I didn\u2019t understand very
\nwell.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAhimsa means nonviolence, dear,\u201d replied Amma, as she
\nplaced another hot dosa on Janaki\u2019s plate. \u201cNonviolence means
\nnot only being nonviolent in your
\nactions, but also in your words and
\neven in your thoughts and
\nintentions. It means not harming
\nanother in any way at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s what it means, we aren\u2019t
\npracticing it!\u201d said Janaki matter-offactly.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Amma in surprise.
\n\u201cWe are nonviolent people. Are we fighting, or what?\u201d
\n\u201cNo. But we eat animals, like chicken and lamb. Aren\u2019t we being
\ncruel to them and not practicing ahimsa?\u201d
\nReshma tapped her hand impatiently on the table and said,
\n\u201cDrop this silly topic. You enjoy eating chicken as much as we
\nall do. What\u2019s this sudden concern for animal welfare?\u201d
\nJanaki continued to eat, but her mind was elsewhere.
\nSuddenly, she said, \u201cSpeaking of animals, where\u2019s Puli?\u201d The
\nBengali cat had come to their house as a mischievous kitten
\nwhen he was a few months old and adopted Janaki as his
\nfavorite person. Within two years, he had grown into a big cat
\nand spent most of his time sitting on the fence outside the
\nhouse. His brown fur had black stripes, giving him the
\nappearance of a small tiger, so they called him Puli. That\u2019s
\nTamil for \u201ctiger.\u201d
\n\u201cPuli, where are you?\u201d shouted Janaki. In return, she heard a
\nsoft meow. She peeped under the stairway and saw Puli curled
\nup cozily. Janaki lifted the cat and tenderly carried him with her.
\nOpening one yellow-flecked eye, the cat gave her a grumpy
\nlook. He seemed to be saying, \u201cWhy are you disturbing my
\nroyal nap?\u201d
\nThe evening wore on, and towards night, the girls went to the
\nlarge bedroom which the three shared. The house had space
\nfor two more rooms, and construction would begin soon.
\nReshma walked in and said, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get my own room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOnce you have your own room and Vani gets hers, this will
\nbecome mine, right? And then I can keep Puli with me?\u201d
\n\u201cAs it is, he spends all his time here. Where else does he go?\u201d
\nasked Vani. She looked over at Puli as he lay dozing at the foot
\nof the bed. \u201cHe seems to be growing lazier day by day,\u201d said
\nReshma, as she tickled the cat playfully. Purring in enjoyment,
\nPuli stretched his body and settled down in a more comfortable
\nposition.
\nIt was a clear night, and somewhere in the distance an owl
\nhooted loudly. In the elm tree near the bedroom, a bird was
\nperched on its nest. The whole atmosphere was one of peace
\nand soft happiness. As Janaki rested her head on her soft
\npillow, she uttered a prayer of thanks to Lord Siva for giving her
\nso much.
\nIn her dream, she was sharing with the class an essay on
\n\u201cFestivals in India.\u201d As she talked about Diwali, she explained
\nthe fireworks. Her dream was filled with a demonstration of
\ncolorful lights and noise, when suddenly her sleep was
\ndisturbed by a different kind of noise. She woke up suddenly,
\nfeeling a bit lost and unsure of her surroundings. Janaki looked
\naround at the dark room and tried to figure out what had woken
\nher up. She heard the sound again and felt a sudden chilling
\nfear. It was a strange, ghastly sound! She was now wide
\nawake. She strained to hear the sound, and realized that it was
\nPuli. Yet it was not his usual meowing. Suddenly she wondered
\nif the cat was injured. Springing up, she switched on her
\nbedside lamp, saying, \u201cPuli, where are you?\u201d
\nAs the light came on, her eyes swept to the ground. To her
\nhorror, she saw a bright red stain. \u201cVani!\u201d she screamed, and
\nVani woke up with a fright. In the other bed, Reshma swung to
\nconsciousness. Both sisters came rushing to her, only to stop in
\ntheir tracks as their eyes took in the blood trail on the tile floor.
\n\u201cWhere is all this blood from? Janaki, are you okay?\u201d shouted
\nReshma. The two sisters rushed to her bed.
\n\u201cI, I, I think it\u2019s Puli. He\u2019s meowing in a strange way, and that\u2019s
\nwhy I woke up.\u201d
\nVani switched on a few more lights in the room and looked
\naround her. Sitting in a corner was Puli, and near his paws lay
\nthe biggest rat that Vani had ever seen in her life. The rat lay
\ndead, with blood oozing from its body. As she watched it, she
\nfelt her sisters coming up behind her. The three of them stared
\nwith horror at the sight in front of them. Puli looked very proud
\nof his catch, and Janaki exclaimed, \u201cHe brought it to share with
\nus! Ugh!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHearing the noise, Appa and Amma had come upstairs. Appa
\ntook the rat by the tail and tossed it outside. Janaki got a cloth
\nand cleaned up the blood. Puli was upset that his rat had been
\ntossed out and ran after it. The three girls went back to bed in a
\nstate of shock. They did not sleep well.
\nThe next evening Uncle and Aunty dropped by for dinner. Out
\nof respect for them, the menu was a vegetarian one. As soon
\nas they walked in, Vani rushed to Uncle and narrated the
\nnight\u2019s incident. Uncle looked thoughtful as he watched Janaki\u2019s
\ndisturbed face. Slowly he said, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d
\nAmma looked with surprise at Uncle and said, \u201cWhat do you
\nmean, \u2018What\u2019s wrong?\u2019 They actually saw the cat tearing up a
\nrat in front of their eyes. You should have seen the blood! And
\nyou being a vegetarian, you\u2019re asking me what is wrong?\u201d
\nHe looked at Amma and said, \u201cYou eat meat! Why are you
\nshocked that your cat eats meat? Your meat is cooked and his
\nmeat is not cooked. What else is the difference?\u201d
\nAmma looked stunned for a moment and then she said rather
\ndefensively, \u201cWe buy our chicken from the supermarket, where
\nit has been cleaned and packed. We don\u2019t see blood dripping
\nall over the place.\u201d
\nUncle laughed and said, \u201cThat is not a satisfactory explanation.
\nYou know that the chicken on the supermarket shelf did not
\nappear there miraculously. Someone has killed and cleaned it
\nfor you.\u201d
\nJanaki looked at Amma, her sisters and her uncle, and she
\nsaid, \u201cUncle, does this mean that we should not eat
\nnonvegetarian food?\u201d
\nUncle said softly, \u201cMy dear child, human beings have teeth and
\na digestive system designed to eat vegetarian food. The cat is
\ndesigned to catch, kill and eat meat. It is not wrong for him to
\ndo so to feed himself and his family. But we humans kill
\nanimals, cook the meat to make it soft and then we eat it. This
\nis unnecessary. We don\u2019t need to kill to eat. We humans should
\npractice ahimsa, nonviolence, and respect the life of every
\nsingle creation of God. I realized this early in my life and have
\nbeen a happy vegetarian, just as my parents\u2014your
\ngrandparents\u2014were.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe entire family sat in silence for a few seconds.
\nEight-year-old Janaki spoke first, \u201cI think from now on I will be a
\nvegetarian.\u201d
\n\u201cMe, too,\u201d said Reshma and Vani at the very same time.
\nAppa looked at Amma, and then at Uncle.
\nHe said, \u201cI knew this day would come. I never felt right about
\neating meat. From this day on, we are a vegetarian family
\nagain!\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspiration<\/h1>\n
<\/p>\n
What we say and how we say it is so important. In the video below Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami discusses the\u00a0Power of Kindly Speech.<\/em><\/p>\n