Gurbani verses on Kindness to All Beings and Abstaining from Meat Gurbani says to be kind towards all beings. The unnecessary killing of animals for one’s taste buds, when it is not essential for human survival, goes against this: ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਸਗਲ ਪੁੰਨ ਜੀਅ ਦਇਆ ਪਰਵਾਨੁ
Read MoreThose who support eating meat often quote the line ਜੀਆ ਕਾ ਆਹਾਰੁ ਜੀਅ ਖਾਣਾ ਏਹੁ ਕਰੇਇ ॥ and claim that Guru Ji is saying that the sustenance of life depends on eating other living beings, so there is no harm in killing living beings to eat
Read MorePeople who eat meat argue that just as there is life in plants, there is also life in animals. If you can eat fruits and plants, then why can’t you eat animals? This argument is also given by many learned scholars, but why don’t they understand
Read MoreWithout compassion (ਦਇਆ), there can be no true dharam (righteousness). The foundation of dharam, including the principle of not eating meat, comes from compassion. Guru Ji has described dharam in Gurbani as the “son of compassion”: ਧੌਲੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਦਇਆ ਕਾ ਪੂਤੁ ॥ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਥਾਪਿ ਰਖਿਆ ਜਿਨਿ
Read MoreSome people who support eating meat often point to the Kurukshetra incident, claiming that during the solar eclipse fair, Guru Nanak Dev Ji had a deer cooked by a prince, and use this as a justification for meat consumption. However, this interpretation is a misunderstanding of
Read MoreA common question is often raised. Why do some Sikhs believe that Langar prepared by a Patit, such as a Mona, an adulterer, or a tobacco user, is not acceptable for the Khalsa of Guru Sahib? Isn’t love enough? If someone prepares Langar with prem, should
Read MoreMata Khivi Ji cooking Langar for the Sangat in Guru Angad Dev Ji’s Holy Kitchen Did Guru Angad Dev Ji’s langar include meat? If that were true, why isn’t meat prepared in Sikh langars today? Did the Sikh code of conduct (Sikh maryada) change at some
Read MoreDid Guru Nanak Dev Ji ever actually eat meat?Did he ever give Sikhs permission to eat meat? In the Janam Sakhis (traditional accounts of Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s life), there are some references, such as the sakhi of the Kurukshetra fair. In this sakhi, it is
Read MoreThere isn’t an exact English word for Jooth, likely because this concept doesn’t exist in Western culture. Simply put, Jooth refers to the effect a person’s Karma and nature can have on the food they prepare, as well as food or drink that has already been
Read MoreToday, any langar that is prepared at any Gurdwara Sahib, whether it is prepared as per Maryada or not, is called Guru ka Langar. Surely any place where free food is given can be called Langar but every such langar cannot be called ‘Guru ka Langar’.
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