Hapless Hindus

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata-Worldwide, 18 April 2021, part 2

Question: I have some Hindu relatives who do everyone's puja—Krishna, Siva, Rama, everyone—and they also eat meat and cannot give that up. I am wondering what I can say to them.

You can tell them that if they eat meat, they will get karma-phal for that. It means that if you eat meat, be it cow's meat or chicken meat or any other meat, you will become a chicken, a chicken, a goat, or some other animal in future. This is what the scriptures say. Even if you take fish, you will get fish body in future. This is what you can tell them, and this is what is said in the scriptures, Manu Samhita in particular,

mam sa bhaksayitamutra
yasya mamsam ihadmy aham
etan mamsasya mamsatvam
pravadanti manisinah

"That creature whose flesh I am eating here and now will consume me in the next life.' Thus meat is called mamsa [mam—me, sa—he, I am eating him, he will eat me], as described by learned authorities."

This sloka is there, and its meaning is that if you eat any flesh it means you are taking your own mamsa, flesh. Sometimes, Bengali people eat only fish and they are proud that they do not eat meat, but it is all the same—if you eat meat or if you eat fish, the result will be the same—you will be eating your own flesh. We always change our bodies, and when this body is dead, you will go to another life. This is what happens.

Another thing is that you say they worship Siva, Lord Krishna, and every other Deity, but they must understand that Krishna does not take their puja because they are not devotees. So, if they worship Krishna, Jagannath, and all other Deities, all these Deities will not accept their puja—all their worship becomes useless. This is the answer to that. Krishna Himself says in Srimad Bhagavad-gita, "My devotees only know Me, and I know only My devotees. I do not see anybody else other than them." Krishna only takes care of His devotees, He does not take care of anyone and everyone. That is why it is important to become a proper devotee, "Grhe thako, vane thako, sada 'Hari' bole dako (গৃহে থাক, বনে থাক সদা 'হরি' বলে ডাক). Whether you stay in a house or in a forest, always call out the Holy Name."

At the same time, when they do such worship, they can get some punya for that, it may bring something auspicious in their life, but ultimately they get this human body or any other body, and they will get the karma-phal depending on how they use their life. The problem is that they have got a human body, but they cannot understand that this human body is very meaningful, very valuable. Those who understand the value of this human body use this human body for the service to the Lord.

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