Question: In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.2.11-12,10) Lord Krishna blessed Mayadevi by saying, “In different places on the surface of the earth, people will give you different names, such as Durga, Bhadrakali, Vijaya, Vaisnavi, Kumuda, Candika, Krsna, Madhavi, Kanyaka, Maya, Narayani, Isani, Sarada and Ambika. By sacrifices of animals, ordinary human beings will worship you gorgeously, with various paraphernalia, because you are supreme in fulfilling the material desires of everyone.”
My question is, why did Lord Krishna say that by sacrifices of animals, ordinary human beings will worship Durga? Isn’t it wrong to kill any creature? Or is it that one can kill in the name of sacrifice? Why is it necessary to kill animals to worship Durga devi?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The Vedas are all encompassing and accommodate people in all different levels of spiritual advancement, from the lowest to the highest. Thus, there are provisions even for those who are addicted to sinful activities just to regulate them. Those who are grossly and uncontrollably addicted to meat eating are permitted to do so, although under explicit and stringent restrictions, accompanied by a suitable mode of worship such as worshiping the ghastly form of Kali.
Krishna as well as the Vedas recognize that such people will eat meat in any case; however, by doing so in submission to Vedic strictures, they will become gradually purified and slowly elevated. This does NOT however mean that the Vedas permit slaughtering animals. It is specifically to curtail such misuse of Vedas that Lord Buddha incarnated.
(Note: Such methods of achieving gradual elevation by Vedic procedures of animal sacrifice are all rendered practically ineffective in this age of Kali due to lack of qualified brahmananas, and are very difficult to perform. Therefore the easy process of hari-nam sankirtan is recommended by Lord Caitanya and is appealing to all.)
Krishna is certainly not advocating animal killing here, nor is it “prescribed” as the way to propitiate Durga; rather He is just referring to the tendency of people in general in the yuga which will follow His manifest passtimes’ completion.
