Page 76 - GOTIL (ENG) Sample

298 Glimpses of Traditional Indian Life

godly gifts by nature and satisfactorily flourish on them
without being captivated by the exploitative motive of
lording it over material nature… .The more we attempt
to exploit material nature according to our whims of
enjoyment, the more we shall become entrapped by
the reaction of such exploitative attempts. If we have
sufficient grains, fruits, vegetables and herbs, then what
is the necessity of running a slaughterhouse and killing
poor animals? A man need not kill an animal if he has
sufficient grains and vegetables to eat. The flow of river
waters fertilizes the fields, and there is more than what we
need. Minerals are produced in the hills, and the jewels in
the ocean. If the human civilization has sufficient grains,
minerals, jewels, water, milk, etc., then why should it
hanker after terrible industrial enterprises at the cost of
the labor of some unfortunate men? But all these natural
gifts are dependent on the mercy of the Lord. (Śrīmad-
Bhāgavatam 1.8.40 Purport)

My father, say forty years before, at most, used to stock at
our house in Calcutta a cartload of rice (fifteen mounds),
ten seers of pure ghee, a bag of potatoes, and a cartload
of soft coke, always ready for use. Our family was not
a rich family, and my father’s income was within 250
rupees per month. And it was within his easy reach to
stock household provisions in the above manner. But at
the present moment, no house in the cities and towns
generally stocks more than fifteen seers of rice. Formerly
they used to enquire rates of commodities in the terms
of mounds, and now they ask for it in terms of seers or