The Sacred Duty of Every Man :1.

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Part-1.



THE question of animal welfare is one that has engaged the attention of all reflective and kind-hearted men for a long time all over the world. Especially, people with a humanitarian temperament and religious bent of mind have taken an intense interest in this question and done a great deal towards minimising the unfortunate but undeniable cruelty exercised by man towards these less-fortunate creatures.

Exercise of such sublime virtues as kindness, mercy and compassion is one of the prime concerns of the life religious, of the practices prescribed for all higher attainments in the religious and spiritual life all over the world.

This question implies two factors. Firstly, it implies the exercise of a virtue: kindness or compassion. Secondly, it also implies the exercise of it towards a special group or a particular section of creatures upon earth.

Taking the first part of this question: it is a self-evident and axiomatic moral principle, and therefore, it does not require much stressing. Why should a man be compassionate? Because it is the human quality. Cruelty and the destructive propensity are recognised more to belong to the beast class which is devoid of intelligence. But man who is an intelligent creature, who knows what is right and what is wrong, who can discriminate between what is virtuous and what is vicious, is necessarily expected to manifest his higher nature, that of a refined and cultured being, belonging to the highest order of creation. As he is made in the image of God, it would be surprising if man were unkind and cruel.

Swami Chidananda

To be continued  ...



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