Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

97
If all these go to the hell, then why acceptest thou their gifts in
charity ? …
O Pundit, thou knowest not whence came all the flesh.
It is from water, like the foodgrains, the sugarcane, cotton, indeed
the three worlds :… “ 34
In this hymn, Guru Nanak emphasis that all life process has a
common source. No animal life is possible without the use of flesh in
one form or the other. He points out the fallacy of those who make a
fetish of the question of eating meat, but have no scruples in
‘devouring’ (exploiting) men. All distinctions between non-vegetarian
foods being impure and the vegetarian being pure are arbitrary, because
the source of all life is the same elements. In fact, Guru Nanak himself
cooked meat at Kurukshetra. 35 Meat was served in the Langar of his
immediate successor, Gurn Angad, and that of the other Gurus that
followed. 36
We have quoted extracts from the above hymn because the
prohibition against non-vegetarian food arose as a corollary of the
doctrine of non-violence or Ahimsa. Those who took non-vegetarian
food lost estimation in the Brahmanical scheme. 37 The doctrine of
Ahima has two implications. First, it completely forbade the religious
men to use non-vegetarians diet since it involved the use of violence
against life and militated against his spiritual progress. Secondly, it
prohibited the person seeking Moksha from entering the socio-political
field for the objective of undoing social tyranny by the use of force.
Guru Nanak’s hymn about meat eating completely repudiates the
doctrine of Ahimsa and its religious and socio-political implications.
Guru Nanak’s views on meat eating clearly show his stand on
the use of force for just causes. He also gives a clear all: “Those who
want to play the game of love should be willing to sacrifice their lives.” 38
And what he considers as unjust in clear from his following hymns: “They
who have strings on their necks eat men, recite the Muhammandan
Prayers; And use knives to cut men’s throats.” 39 In other words, he
condemns both Hindu and Muslim exploiters. He says, “Riches cannot
be gathered without resort to sinful means.” 40 About the rulers and the
administration of his times, he says, ‘Greed and sin are the ruler and