Srila Prabhupada - Vedic Teachings

  „The ksatriyas, when they are fighting in the battlefield, the killing is not a sin for them. Similarly, a brāhmin, when he's offering sacrifice, sometimes animals are sacrificed; so that does not mean that he is committing sin. This animal sacrifice was made not for eating the animals. It was for testing the Vedic mantra. Whether the brāhmins who were engaged in offering sacrifice, whether they were chanting the Vedic mantra in right way, that was tested by offering one animal and again giving the animal a new youth life. That was animal sacrifice. Sometimes horses, sometimes cows were offered. But in this age, Kali-yuga, they are forbidden because there is no such yājñika-brāhmin. All kinds of sacrifices are forbidden in this age.”  (Lecture on BG 2.2-6 -- Ahmedabad, December 11, 1972)   „Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: "The purpose of the Vedas is to establish such principles under the order of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord directly orders at the end of the Bhagavad-gītā tha...

"When there was too much animal killing, the incarnation of Lord Buddha was there to stop animal killing. In Buddhism there is no animal killing. Although they are now killing animals, but originally Buddha religion means non-violence."  (Room Conversation with Professor Durckheim German Spiritual Writer -- June 19, 1974, Germany) "Buddhism also was a necessity for the time being. They are not for all. Emergency. Just like it is going on, "emergency." It is not necessity, but sometimes we have to take emergency."  (Morning Walk -- November 17, 1975, Bombay) " Vaiṣṇavas, they do not accept the philos ophy of Buddha or Śaṅkarācārya. Buddha's philosophy: zero, śūnyavādi; and Śaṅkara's philosophy: nirviśeṣa-vādi, impersonal. So we defy these, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. But we have got all respect for them.  Don't think that we disrespect. Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare. And the Vaiṣṇavas know Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkara, svayaṁ śaṅkara, h...

                       „ Lord Buddha is accepted as incarnation in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And during the time of Emperor Aśoka, he was patronized, Lord Buddha was patronized, not Buddha, or Buddhism was patronized by Aśoka. So practically the whole of Far East, including India, all over, the Buddhism was broadcast and everyone become Buddhist. Whole of India, practically, became Buddhist during his time. But later on, after Śaṅkarācārya's drive against Buddhism, Buddha-ism... Śaṅkarācārya wanted to establish the difference of Buddhism and Hinduism is that Buddhism, Lord Buddha did not accept Vedic authority. He did not accept Vedic authority.”  (Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.353-354 -- New York, December 26, 1966) „Then Śaṅkarācārya came and he preached this almost Buddhism. The Buddha, Lord Buddha preached that there is no God, there is no soul. This body is combination of matter and if we dissolve this material com...

  " If you are animal killer, your God consciousness is finished. You'll never be able to understand what is God. Then your life is finished. This life is meant for understanding God, and if you are animal killer, then your God understanding is finished." (Conversations, Evening Darsana -- July 11, 1976, New York) "Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gayā (Bihar) as the son of Añjanā, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse ...