In the process of evolution, man rises above the animal. In the case of an animal, food is just a necessity for its survival. It is not bothered about the purity or impurity of the food that it consumes. By instinct, it chooses the food that helps its survival. However, man does not eat just for physical survival. He has a mind which is attracted to sensual pleasures and he therefore eats to satisfy his palate. He has an intellect and an intelligent man chooses that kind of food which would suit to his intellectual and intuitive development. Man has also spiritual cravings and the man aspiring for a higher life chooses such type of food which will help him in his spiritual development also. Our ancestors have classified food into three types -- Tamasic, Rajasic and Satvic. A man who wants to live just like an animal will choose just Tamasic food which includes non-vegetarian food that satisfies his inherited animal tendencies and also satisfies his palate. But a man who wants to live a higher emotional existence like a warrior, prefers Rajasic food that is spicy and hot like foods prepared with chilly, pepper, etc. However, a man who craves for a higher spiritual life prefers Satvic food consisting of honey, milk, fruits, etc.

In the process of evolution from animal to man, the human species have passed through the stages of cannibals and raw meat eaters. Today man is a civilized being. When man advances in civilization, he learns to live in harmony and peace with nature. Live and let live becomes his philosophy. When he moves forward, he realizes that in god's creation, every living being has a right to survive unless and until it is a threat to the existence of other beings. He realizes that all life is the manifestation of one Supreme Consciousness -- "Every Jiva is Shiva" -- as Sri Ramakrishna said. However, the law of nature is that one form of life becomes food for another form of life. Thus the vegetable kingdom becomes food for animal and man. Our ancient Rishis realized this truth and learnt to live in harmony with nature. Without destroying the vegetable kingdom, enjoying the fruits supplied by them, they maintained their existence. The highly evolved Rishis never even plucked the fruits, but waited them to fall off naturally after ripening. The violence to the lower vegetable kingdom was the barest minimum needed for the survival of the higher species. Killing of animals for food was abandoned by them in the process of evolution to a higher spiritual life. On the other hand, even the cow that gave milk, which is next to the mother's breast milk for the survival of a human child, was adored as 'Gomata'. That is why the orthodox Brahmin community considered a beef eater as 'mleccha' -- outcaste -- and kept him at a distance.

Today, we live in a scientific and rational age. Today vegetarianism is fast spreading all over the world, especially in those countries which have been for ages the land of meat eaters and beef eaters. The reason is that the modern scientists in Europe and America have discovered that meat is not the natural food of man and it is on the other hand the source of many diseases, like the mad cow disease, heart disease, cancer, liver and kidney failure etc. Man like his immediate ancestor, the ape, is a herbivorous being; not carnivorous like lower beasts. The moment an animal or bird is killed, the food becomes a dead carcass and the process of putrefaction starts. The one who eats such food inherits the tamasic qualities of animals because of the acidity of the dead carcass. His stomach becomes a grave yard for animals and birds killed by him. In the case of vegetable food, the energy is directly received from the solar rays transformed into chlorophyll by the leaves of the plant kingdom and supplied to fruits, roots, nuts, etc. which retain the energy for a longer period. The plant kingdom is not wantonly destroyed while taking the fruits and the process of growth of the species is not stopped. If one analyses these factors, one would definitely prefer to live as a vegetarian throughout life and would strive to rise higher in the process of evolution by living in harmony with entire nature.