Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why one should not eat meat if their religion declares it 'halal' or permissible. He begins by clarifying that 'permissible' (anumati) is not the same as 'compulsory' (anivarya). There is a significant difference between something being allowed and something being mandatory. He explains that permission is often granted with the assumption that an individual possesses enough intelligence (buddhi) to not misuse that freedom foolishly or wrongly. To illustrate his point, Acharya Prashant uses analogies from sports. In a football match, it is technically allowed to pass the ball to an opponent, and there is no penalty for it. However, a player is expected to use their common sense and not do something so counterproductive. Similarly, in cricket, a batsman can play a hundred dot balls without being declared out, but it would be a foolish act according to intelligence (akl). He argues that not every wrong action is explicitly forbidden in a rulebook; many things are left to one's discretion and common sense. He extends this logic to religious texts, stating that the creator has endowed humans with intelligence (buddhi), intellect (pragya), and discretion (vivek). Respecting the creator means using these faculties. He criticizes the tendency to use religious texts as a justification for one's bloodthirsty tendencies (rakt-lolup vritti). He points out the hypocrisy of selectively following a religious text only when it serves the desire to eat meat, while ignoring numerous other injunctions. In conclusion, Acharya Prashant emphasizes that no religious book makes it compulsory to kill animals or suggests that one would be less religious for abstaining. Some scriptures explicitly forbid killing, while others leave the decision to an individual's intelligence and conscience. Just as no book needs to specify that a banana should be peeled before eating, one should use their own intelligence to understand what is right, rather than seeking loopholes in scriptures to justify their desires.
