Animal Sacrifices

7. Hindu Perspectives on the Use of Animals in Science

1 Hindu Perspectives on the Use of Animals in Science Basant K. Lai Questions about our use of animals in science are of comparatively recent origin. Therefore we will be disappOinted if we expect to find definitive and pointed answers in Hinduism. It could not even have occurred to the Hindu seers when they were trying to formulate the Hindu doctrines that such questions would ever demand their attention. Therefore, the Hindu perspective on the use of animals in science must be extrapolated from the general tenor of Hindu thought. This paper intends to fulfill that task, and it proceeds under the conviction that it is possible to do so authentically. For the Hindu code offers a general perspective toward animals, enjoining us to develop a distinctively religious attitude toward them. It is on the basis of an analysis of this attitude, I hope to show, that the Hindu perspective on the use of animals in science can be determined. There is, however, an important limitation under which the present deliberation must proceed. Hinduism is a very old religion, with a history extending for thousands of years. In the course of its evolutionary growth, a distinction has developed between what may be called doctrinal Hinduism and popular Hinduism. Doctrinal Hinduism, interpreted strictly, continues to be rigidly faithful to its venerated traditions and consequently maintains inflexible articles of faith. Popular Hinduism, on the other hand, has changed with the demands Copyrighted Material 200 BlUiant K. Lal of changing times, and as such, at least in its practical outlook and conduct, is more liberal and less rigid. There are, then, two different perspectives on the use of animals in science that need to be worked out-the doctrinal and the popular perspectives . And, as we shall see below, even the doctrinal viewpoint may have to be further divided into the transcendental and the empirical. 1. The Hindu Attitude Toward Animals and MokSa If we are to understand the Hindu attitude toward animals , one basic fact must be kept in mind: The Hindu recommendation to cultivate a particular kind of attitude toward animals is based not on considerations about the animal as such but on considerations about how the development of this attitude is a part of the purificatory steps that bring men to the path of moksa (salvation). The primary religious goal of the Hindu is moksa, and the fulfillment of every religious prescription , if it is valid, must aid in the realization of that goal. Consequently, in Hindu tradition such recommendations have only a this-wordly value and not an ultimate or transcendental value. They are like rungs on a ladder: each has value only in the sense that, by mounting them, the climber goes higher. When, therefore, the Hindu talks of the sacrifice of animals or ofcultivating an attitude ofsacredness toward the cow, he believes that these steps will help him in disciplining himself . Even the talk of ahirnsii (nonviolence) refers merely to a kind of virtue that must be cultivated if one is to be a sincere seeker ofsalvation. To embody these attitudes, however, is but one stage-a stage that is ultimately to be superceded as one ascends the ladder of self-purification and self-development. The importance of this point cannot be overemphasized. There are references to animal sacrifice in the Hindu ritual, but there are also recommendations to cultivate positive attitudes toward domestic animals. From the ultimate or transcendental point of view, however, neither the sacrifice nor the attitude has any value or disvalue in itself: From that point Copyrighted Material Hindu Perspectives on the Use of Animals 201 of view, like the rungs of a ladder, neither has any intrinsic significance. 2. Five Areas of Hindu Thought The general Hindu attitude toward animals can be determined on the basis of an exploration of five areas of Hindu thought. These areas are not mutually exclusive, and none concerns animals to the exclusion of all else. However, each one addresses some of the ways leading to salvation and in the process, each is suggestive of ideas which, considered collec~ tively, coalesce in the Hindu attitude toward animals. Let us try to summarize them briefly. (i) The most obvious point we must consider is the Vedic reference to animal sacrifice. It is a fact that the Vedas place great emphasis on sacrificial ritual, and at times they recommend the sacrifice of animals such as goats, oxen...