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'All the Dhyanas, Apramanas,, Arupas, Samadhis, the Cessation of Thought,all these are mental constructions, nothing of the sort is really attainable. " T h e fruit resulting from the life of a Srotapanna, of a Sakridagamin, or of an Anagamin, or of an Arhatall this is mental confusion. " T h e Dhyana practised, Dhyana itself, and the subject of Dhyana, the abandonment, the seeing of the truth,all this is discrimination; he who understands is. released." 1 5. On Meat-eating (p. 244 et seq.) The motive for having this chapter appended to the Lankavatara, when it has no organic connection with the text proper, seems to lie in a passage towards the end. According to it, the Buddha evidently dislikes the idea of being thought of as the one who has permitted meat-eating among his followers. He says, there may be some unenlightened followers of mine after my death, who, not 'knowing the spirit of my teaching and training, may wrongly conclude that I allowed them to eat meat and that I myself ate it. This would be disastrous. For how can those who are abiding in a merciful heart, disciplining themselves-in asceticism, and trying to follow the path of Mahayana, tell others to eat animal food? Indeed, I have elsewhere given rules as to the eating and not eating of meat; ten rules for avoiding and three rules for accepting it. But in this Lankavatara as well as in the Hastikakshya, Mahdmegha, Nirvana, and Angulimdlika sutras, meat-eating is absolutely forbidden. Not only in the past, but in the future and now, all my followers are to shun animal food no matter how it has been prepared. If there is any one who would accuse me of eating meat myself and allowing others to eat it, he will surely be born in an undesirable region. Holy people refuse to eat even the food of ordinary people, how much more so with meat-eating! Their food is the food of truth
1

P. 121.

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(dharmdhdra), the Tathagata's Dharmakaya is supported by that. 1 According to this, there must have been the accepting of meat-food among the followers of Buddhism in the time when the Lankavatara was compiled. Evidently, the Buddha did not object to their eating it if the animal was not especially killed for them. This caused unfavourable comments among the other religions, for instance, the Lokayatas, 2 and the Buddhists naturally did not like them, and this must have started the new effort to prohibit meat-eating altogether among the Mahayana advocates. The following are the reasons for not eating animal food as recounted in this sutra: (1) All sentient beings are constantly going through a cycle of transmigration and stand to one another in every possible form of relationship. Some of these are living at present even as the lower animals. While they so differ from us now, they all are of the same kind as ourselves. To take their lives and eat their flesh is like eating our own. Human feelings cannot stand this unless one is quite callous. When this fact is realised even the Rakshasas may cease from eating meat. The Bodhisattva who regards all beings as if they were his only child cannot indulge in flesh-eating. (2) The essence of Bodhisattvaship is a great compassionate heart, for without this the Bodhisattva looses his being. Therefore, he who regards others as if they were himself (sarva-bhutdtmabhuta), and whose pitying thought (kripdtma) is to benefit others as well as himself, ought not to eat meat. He is willing for the sake of the truth to sacrifice himself, his body, his life, his property; he has no greed for anything; and full of compassion towards all sentient beings and ready to store up good merit, pure and free from wrong'discrimination, how can he have any longing for meat? How can he be affected by the evil habits of the carnivorous races ?
1

P p . 254-256.

* Cf. p. 244.

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(3) This cruel habit of eating meat causes an entire transformation in the features of a Bodhisattva, whose skin emits an offensive and poisonous odour. The animals are keen enough to sense the approach of such a person, a person who is like a Rakshasa himself, and would be frightened and run away from him. He who walks in compassion (maitri-vihari), therefore, ought not to eat meat. (4) The mission of a Bodhisattva is to create among his fellow-beings a kindly heart and friendly regard for Buddhist teaching. If they see him eating meat and causing terror among animals, their hearts will naturally turn away from him and from the teaching he professes. They vill then lose faith in Buddhism. (5) If a Bodhisattva eats meat, he cannot attain the end he wishes; for he will be alienated by the Devas, the heavenly beings who are his spiritual sympathisers and protectors. His mouth will smell bad; he may not sleep soundly; when he awakes he is not refreshed; his dreams are filled with inauspicious omens; when he is in a deserted place, all alone in the woods, he will be haunted by evil spirits; he will be nervous, excitable at least provocations; he will be sickly, have no proper taste, digestion, nor assimilation; the course of his spiritual discipline will be constantly interrupted. Therefore, he who is intent on benefitting himself and others in their spiritual progress, ought not to think of partaking of animal flesh. (6) Animal food is filthy, not at all clean as a nourishing agency for the Bodhisattva. It readily decays, putrifies, and taints. It is filled with pollutions, and the odour of it when burned is enough to injure anybody with refined taste for things spiritual. (7) The eater of meat shares in this pollution, spiritually. Once King Simhasaudasa who was fond of eating meat began to eat human flesh, and this alienated the affections of his people. He was thrown out of his own kingdom. Sakrendra, a celestial being, once turned himself

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into a hawk and chased a dove because of his past taint as a meat-eater. Meat-eating not only thus pollutes the life of the individual concerned; but also his descendants. (8) The proper food of a Bodhisattva, as was adopted by all the previous saintly followers of truth, is rice, barley, wheat, all kinds of beans, clarified butter, oil, honey, molasses, and sugar prepared in various ways. "Where no meat is eaten, there will be no butchers taking the lives of living creatures, and no unsympathetic deeds (gataghrind) will be committed in the world.