HOW CRUEL HUMAN BEINGS ARE!

official source: Neohumanism in a Nutshell Part 2

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed Neohumanism in a Nutshell Part 2, 1st edition, 
	version (spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). 
	I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic 
	Edition.

      Vultures are carnivorous birds. Yet it is found that they are not cruel or heartless. Usually, like eagles, they do not attack living humans or animals. Their habit is to eat the flesh of dead bodies. There was an incident in my childhood that I can still vividly recall. On the west of our locality there was a large field which bordered on a tributary of the Ganges. As the soil was not fit for cultivation nothing could be grown there. On the upper side of that fallow land was a mound upon which stood a large tamarind tree. A vulture lived in a nest on the tree. Beside the mount was the site for the disposal of carcasses. Cows used to graze in the field as did a few horses and sheep. Once an old cow came there and fell flat on the ground due to utter exhaustion. The veterinary doctor came and said, "The cow has no chance of survival. She is likely to die in a few hours." The owner of the cow was a very kind-hearted man. He tried to save the cow in various ways but in vain. I noticed that as long as the cow was alive, she gently wagged her tail, even when her eyes were half closed. There was no other symptom of life, at least that is what it seemed to me. I also noticed that while her tail was wagging, the vulture stayed patiently in the tree. It came to eat the cow's flesh only an hour after her natural death. Human beings are more cruel than vultures. Their hearts don't melt even at the sight of tears of innocent birds and animals. Just to gratify their sense of greed, they mercilessly slit the throats of animals with sharp knives and swords and thus deprive them of the right to live, even while preaching the hollow dictates of religion.

Shabda Cayanika' 9/171

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