I read some Yoga books, and saw Swami Sivananda saying to not kill animals, but himself can be found in a photo making asana over a tiger's skin carpet, even pictures of Lord Shiva show him over a tiger carpet. So, if a Hindu can't kill animals, how do they get those tigers carpets?
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Good Q. Shiva (actually you meant lord Shankara) is not "Hindu". Even in Gita, there is a verse to perform a yogAsana on deer skin. 'Not to kill animals for selfish reasons' is just a personal belief. Many Hindus (including Shiva devotees) subscribe to it. But, there is no rule of "Should not kill animals". India (highest Hindus) is 1 of the biggest beef exporters. Personally I feel, no one in world should kill animals when the alternatives available. If some Swamiji makes mistake, let's not repeat it for ourselves. @gansub, the comparison in Q is quite fair. All are equally [un]bound! – iammilind Feb 15 '16 at 11:38
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4Tiger represents lust. His sitting on the tiger’s skin indicates that He has conquered lust. This is just symbolism. This is said by Swami Sivananda. Even if Lord Rudra aka Shankara sits on tiger skin, it could be skin of dead tiger. Why will Lord of Animals (Pashupatinath) kill tigers just to sit on tiger carpet. It represents he conquered lust. It is evident from the episode of burning of KamaDeva (cupid). – The Destroyer Feb 15 '16 at 12:30
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4Related Why are Gods and Yogis sitting on animals skins? – Ankit Sharma Feb 15 '16 at 13:29
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- Yogis sit on skins of animals that have died of natural causes. 2. Kshatriyas were allowed to hunt in ancient India,. Hunting is illegal in current times.
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1I agree with what moonstar2001 has said.Sanatan Dharmis even recommend eating only those fruits that have naturally fallen from trees. – Rickross Feb 15 '16 at 17:46
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I think @moonstar2001 have give a good answer for my question. I have some dogs skulls as souvenirs, get it by already dead dogs found around. – Leandros López Feb 18 '16 at 12:56
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The Gita also says that an animal skin should be part of a yogi's asana. My own guru, when he was still in the body, as part of his asana sat on a deerskin. But it clearly did not die of natural causes as you can see the hole left by the arrow that killed it. The killing of animals if perscribed by scripture is permissible. – Swami Vishwananda Apr 01 '16 at 07:25
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1That directly contradicts the Ahimsa and Aparigraha principles of the Yamas in Astanga Yoga. – Naveen Apr 01 '16 at 16:21
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@SwamiVishwananda , "Hindu scriptures such as the Gita, and some Puranas forbid animal sacrifice", so you must restrict you affirmation only to shaktism, and I must point out, they are very unhappy, and I'm so sorry for their bad karma's accumulation. – Leandros López Apr 02 '16 at 16:49
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@LeandrosLópez Actually no. Brahma Sutras 3.1.27 says: "It is be said (that sacrifices, which entail the killing of animals etc.) are unholy, (we say) not so, on account of scriptural authority." – Swami Vishwananda Apr 03 '16 at 13:18
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@LeandrosLópez Adam and Eve themselves used to wear, why mocking hinduism.. – OM-ॐ Oct 26 '17 at 09:51
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@KattarHinduRonit, totally unnecessary your comment. The Old Testament tell us about "holocaust", where living animals were thrown in fire for jewish faith pleases its God. – Leandros López Nov 02 '17 at 10:30
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From info found here,the following quote is taken from Sukeshi's questions(to the Sages) found in the Vamana Puranam:
The sages say- “Dharma consists of ten properties such as non-violence, truth, charity, not stealing the property of others, forgiveness, self-restraint, cleanliness etc. Hence it is known as Dashaang Dharma.
Hence anyone following the path of Dharma follows Ahimsa first & foremost.And a Yogi(Saint) will have more reasons to follow it.
Hence,it is evident that the Yogis get tiger skins only from those tigers that died of natural causes.
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I'm not sure how this answers OP's question. What is the connection between your quote on Dharma, non-violence and not killing tigers? So a king hunting tigers in the olden times to practice archery on moving targets (animals) committing Adharma? Also, if a yogi is meditating in the wild and a tiger attacks him, should he save himself, retaliate and kill it or just give up his life because the tiger is doing its dharma killing for food and satisfy its hunger (charity)? – Say No To Censorship Apr 26 '16 at 18:39
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I think the OP understood better than what u did,I just quoted from scriptures which says a yogi among other things must follow the 10 fold Dharma principles and the foremost among which is Ahimsa.So ,a yogi killing an animal to make his seat is just out of question.Again the question was specifically about a yogi and not king who kills animals for pastime and pleasure. – Rickross Apr 30 '16 at 05:47
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@sv. Tigers won't attack most of the sages who are well versed in meditation. They either tame them or send them away in no time. Read Autobiography of a Yogi or Living with Himalayan Masters by sage Rama. – The Destroyer Jul 10 '16 at 09:06
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how do they get tiger carpets?
From what I remember, the way for sadhaks to get tiger skin for their Sadhana is mentioned in Guru charitra(based on the life of Narasimha Saraswati). One of the main conditions mentioned is that one should not kill a tiger to get the tiger skin. In addition to this condition, there are many other conditions like the direction in which a Sadhak has to proceed in search of the tiger skin etc..
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