Acharya Prashant addresses the common argument that plants also have life and feel pain, explaining that while plants are conscious, they lack a central nervous system and therefore do not experience pain like animals. He defines violence as the act of lowering consciousness. Since consciousness exists on a continuous scale, killing a more conscious being, such as an animal or a human, constitutes a much greater level of violence than consuming plants. He emphasizes that humans, as the most conscious beings, have a responsibility to protect lesser conscious beings rather than exploit them, acting as the guardians or trustees of the Earth.
