Hunter Defends His Violent Livelihood to Brahmana

The hunter knew dharma. When the brahmana came to him — a man who sold meat for a living, who killed animals with his own hands — the brahmana’s implicit judgment hung in the air. The hunter did not flinch. He answered. “There is no doubt that the deeds I perform are terrible,” he said. “But destiny is powerful. And it is impossible to overcome deeds committed earlier. The sins committed earlier are the taints of karma. I have endeavoured to kill this sin. When destiny has already killed something earlier, the killer is only the instrument. We are only instruments of our karma.” He did not stop there. He invoked the shrutis — the revealed scriptures — which declare that herbs, creepers, animals, deer, and birds are the decreed food for all beings. He named King Shibi Ushinara, who had offered his own flesh to a hawk in exchange for a dove, and had attained a heaven difficult to reach. He named King Rantideva, in whose great kitchen two thousand animals were slaughtered every day, who gave food with meat at every meal, whose fame was unmatched. He named the chaturmasya sacrifices, where animals were killed according to ancient rule. “The fire desires meat,” he said. “A brahmana always kills animals at sacrifices. They are purified through mantras and we have heard that they go to heaven. If the fire had not desired meat earlier, who would have eaten it now?” He cited the rule: he who eats after offering to the gods and ancestors, in accordance with the rules and with faith — no sin attaches to him. Such a person is the equal of one who does not eat meat. A brahmana who has intercourse with his wife during her season is the equal of a brahmachari (celibate). The rules that differentiate truth from falsehood are recited even now. He mentioned King Soudasa, who had eaten men — overtaken by a terrible curse. What did the brahmana think of that? “I cannot give up my own dharma,” the hunter said. “Knowing that this is due to my earlier deeds, I perform this task for my livelihood. It is considered to be adharma to give up one’s own dharma. It is certainly dharma to adhere to one’s own dharma.” He turned the argument outward. Agriculture, he said, is known to be a virtuous occupation — but there is great violence in it. Ploughing kills many beings that lie inside the ground and many other hundreds of beings. Seeds of rice are all living organisms. Men hunt, kill, and eat animals. They cut trees and herbs. There are living beings in trees and fruit, in water too. Fish eat fish. Beings live on other beings. Through the mere act of walking, men trample many beings that resort to the ground. Even wise and learned ones kill many beings when they are seated or asleep. The entire earth and sky are full of living beings — one causes injury to them unknowingly. “Those men of earlier times wondered and spoke about non-violence,” he said. “But in this world, who does not injure living beings? After reflecting a lot on this, there is no one who does not cause violence. Even ascetics who are devoted to non-violence cause violence, though their efforts make it less.” He concluded: there are different ways of freeing oneself from terrible karma — donations, truthfulness in speech, the service of superiors, the worship of brahmanas. He had always devoted himself to this dharma. He should refrain from pride and from speaking too much. “He who adheres to his own dharma attains great fame.”