Reverence for nature is essential. It will help us survive upon this planet, preserve and protect this blessed earth for future generations.
Reverence is essential – reverence for our rivers and forests; reverence for our lakes and waterfalls; reverence for trees and plants and the grass that grows beneath our feet; reverence for birds and beasts, whom I love to call our younger brothers and sisters.
My vision of unity and fellowship and brotherhood is of a world in which the right to life is accorded to every creature that breathes the breath of life! How can wars cease until we stop all killing? How can we claim to seek world peace when we continue to slaughter sentient creatures?
Have you ever spared a thought for the atrocities that are perpetrated on animals day after day, in laboratories and in slaughterhouses? Have you thought of these creatures imprisoned in their tiny cages, deprived of light, fresh air and free movement, and finally consumed?
We cannot speak of dharma; we cannot speak of creation as one family until we stop the exploitation of animals – until we stop all killing! All killing must be stopped for the simple reason that if man kills an animal for food, he will not hesitate to kill a fellow human being whom he regards as an enemy.
We cannot have a world family built on the exploitation of the poor, and on the blood of the defenceless creatures. Such a ‘family’ will only crumble beneath the burden of its own weight. The new global village, the new family of humanity must be built on a nobler, worthier ideal. If civilisation is to endure, it must be built in a new spirit of reverence, in a new religion of reverence for all life.
Animal welfare is not enough. We must speak of animal rights. Men have their rights; have animals no rights? I believe the time has come when all animal lovers must get together and formulate a charter of animal rights – a charter of man’s duty towards the animal kingdom. I hope and pray that India – the country of the Buddha, Mahavir, Gandhi and Sadhu Vaswani – will be first among nations to pass an enactment giving rights to animals.
Every animal has its fundamental rights. And the very first right of every animal is the right to live. We cannot take away that which we cannot give. And since we cannot give life to a dead creature, we have no right to take away the life of a living one. The time has come when we must decide once and for all that all types of exploitation must cease. We must recognise the moral inviolability of individual rights – both human and non-human. Just as the poor do not exist as resources for the rich, just as women don’t exist as resources for men, even so animals don’t exist as resources for human beings. In the words of Sadhu Vaswani, “No nation can be free, until its animals are free.” We cannot call this world our own family until all forms of exploitation cease.
-Dada Vaswani
