Bhagavad-gita
All that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.
If one offers me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.
The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sin because they eat food which is offered first in sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.
He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is — immortal in the field of mortality — he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path.
Manusmriti
Having well considered the origin of flesh-foods, and the cruelty of fettering and slaying corporeal beings, let man entirely abstain from eating flesh.
By not killing any living being, one becomes fit for salvation.
The learned declare that the meaning of mansa (flesh) is, he (sa) will eat me (mam) in the other world whose flesh I eat here.
Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to the attainment of heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun the use of meat.
Mahabharata
The purchaser of flesh performs himsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does himsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing. He who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts of the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells, or cooks flesh and eats it-all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.
Only the animal killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth.
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth.
Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts of injury.
The very name of cow is Aghnya ["not to be killed"], indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a bull commits a heinous crime.
Ahimsa (non-violence) is the highest Dharma (religion). Ahimsa is the best Tapas (prayer). Ahimsa is the greatest gift. Ahimsa is the highest self-control. Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahimsa is the highest power. Ahimsa is the highest friend. Ahimsa is the highest truth. Ahimsa is the highest teaching.
One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting differently, one becomes guilty of adharma (evil).
Tirukural
What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may avoid killing any creature.
All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat.
What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin.
Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature’s flesh.
Even at the risk of your own self, refrain from acts that cause the harmless, pain of their lives.
Veda (Yajur)
You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.
Srila Prabhupada (Founder Master of Hare Krishna Movement)
In the Manu-samhita the concept of a life for a life is sanctioned, and it is actually observed throughout the world. Similarly, there are other laws which state that one cannot even kill an ant without being responsible. Since we cannot create, we have no right to kill any living entity, and therefore man-made laws that distinguish between killing a man and killing an animal are imperfect. According to the laws of God, killing an animal is as punishable as killing a man. Those who draw distinctions between the two are concocting their own laws.
Everyone is God’s creature, although in different bodies or dresses. God is considered the one supreme father. A father may have many children, and some may be intelligent and others not very intelligent, but if an intelligent son tells his father, ‘My brother is not very intelligent; let me kill him,’ will the father agree? … Similarly, if God is the supreme father, why should He sanction the killing of animals who are also His sons?”
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