[44] Vishńu Puráńa, p. 208 sq.
[45] Institutes of Vishnu, l. 16 sqq. Gautama, xxii. 18. Âpastamba, i. 26. 1. Laws of Manu, xi. 109 sqq.
[46] Laws of Manu, xi. 80.
[47] Barth, Religions of India, p. 264. Kipling, Beast and Man in India, p. 118 sq. Crooke, Things Indian, p. 91.
In Buddhism, Jainism, and Taouism the respect for animal life is extreme. A disciple of Buddha may not knowingly deprive any creature of life, not even a worm or an ant. He may not drink water in which animal life of any kind whatever is contained, and must not even pour it out on grass or clay.[48] And the doctrine which forbids the killing of animate beings is not only professed, but in a large measure followed, by the great majority of people in Buddhistic countries. In Siam the tameness of many living creatures which in Europe fly from the presence of man is very striking. Instances have been known in which natives have quitted the service of Europeans on account of their unwillingness to destroy reptiles and vermin, and it is a not uncommon practice for rich Siamese to buy live fish to have the merit of restoring them to the sea.[49] In Burma, though fish is one of the staple foods of the people, the fisherman is despised; not so much, perhaps, as if he killed other living things, but he is still an outcast from decent society, and “will have to suffer great and terrible punishment before he can be cleansed from the sins that he daily commits.”[50] The Buddhists of Ceylon are more forbearing: they excuse the fisherman by saying that he does not kill the fish, but only removes it from the water.[51] In Tibet all dumb creatures are treated with humanity, and the taking of animal life is rather strictly prohibited, except in the case of yaks and sheep needed for food. Owing to the coldness of the climate, flesh forms an essential staple of diet; but the butchers are regarded as professional sinners and are therefore the most despised of all classes in Tibet. Wild animals and even small birds and fish are seldom or never killed, on account of the religious penalties attached to this crime.[52]
[48] Oldenberg, Buddha, pp. 290 n. *, 351.
[49] Bowring, Siam, i. 107.
[50] Fielding Hall, The Soul of a People, p. 230.
[51] Schmidt, Ceylon, p. 316 sq.
[52] Waddell, Buddhism of Tibet, p. 567 sq.