Nonviolence is all the offerings. Renunciation is the priestly honorarium. The final purification is death. Thus all the Divinities are established in this body.§
Kṛishṇa Yajur Veda, Prāṇāgnihotra Upanishad 46-8. VE, 413-14§
Peaceful be to us the signs of the future, peaceful what is done and undone, peaceful to us be what is and what will be. May all to us be gracious. These five sense organs, with the mind as the sixth, within my heart, inspired by Brahman, by which the awe-inspiring is created, through them to us be peace.§
Atharva Veda 19.9.2; 5 ;9. VE, 305§
If we have injured space, the Earth or Heaven, or if we have offended mother or father, from that may Agni, fire of the house, absolve us and guide us safely to the world of goodness.§
Atharva Veda 6.120.1. VE, 636§
You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever.§
Yajur Veda 12.32. FS, 90§
Protect both our species, two-legged and four-legged. Both food and water for their needs supply. May they with us increase in stature and strength. Save us from hurt all our days, O Powers! §
Ṛig Veda 10.37.11. VE, 319§
May the wind fan us with blissful breezes! May the Sun warm us with delightful rays! May the rain come to us with a pleasant roar! May days come and go for us with blessings! May nights approach us benignly! O earthen vessel, strengthen me. May all beings regard me with friendly eyes! May I look upon all creatures with friendly eyes! With a friend’s eye may we regard each other!§
Śukla Yajur Veda 36.10, 11 & 8. VE, 342§
No pain should be caused to any created being or thing.§
Devīkālottara Āgama, Jñāna-āchara-vichara 69-70. RM, 116§
When mindstuff is firmly based in waves of ahiṁsā, all living beings cease their enmity in the presence of such a person.§
Patañjali Yoga Sūtras 2.35. YP, 205§
Hiṁsā is to act against the spirit divine of the Vedas. It is to act against the dictates of dharma. Ahiṁsā is the understanding of the fundamental truth that the ātman is imperishable, immutable and all-pervading.§
Suta Saṁhitā, Skanda Purāṇa, 4-5. FF, 113§
He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is—immortal in the field of mortality—he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path.§
Bhagavad Gītā 13.27-28. BGM, 101§
The purchaser of flesh performs hiṁsā (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does hiṁsā by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it—all of these are to be considered meat-eaters.§
Mahābhārata, Anu. 115.40. FS, 90§
Nonviolence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, serenity, aversion to fault-finding, sympathy for all beings, peace from greedy cravings, gentleness, modesty, steadiness, energy, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, a good will, freedom from pride—these belong to a man who is born for heaven.§
Bhagavad Gītā 16.2-3. BGM, 109§
Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to the attainment of heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun meat.§
Manu Dharma Śāstras 5.48. LM, 176§
Worthless are those who injure others vengefully, while those who stoically endure are like stored gold. Let one who hopes for freedom from affliction’s pain avoid inflicting harm on others.§
Tirukural 155, 206, WW§
For the worship of the Lord, many flowers are available, but the best is not killing even an atom of life. The best steady flame is the tranquil mind; the best place for worship is the heart, where the soul resides.§
Tirumantiram 197, TMR, 30§