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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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, 2016 at 12:30
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4Related Why are Gods and Yogis sitting on animals skins?– Ankit SharmaFeb 15, 2016 at 13:29
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41. 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.– user1195Feb 15, 2016 at 15:33
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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.– RickrossFeb 15, 2016 at 17:46
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1That directly contradicts the Ahimsa and Aparigraha principles of the Yamas in Astanga Yoga.– NaveenApr 1, 2016 at 16:21
2 Answers
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)? Apr 26, 2016 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.– RickrossApr 30, 2016 at 5:47
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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, 2016 at 9:06
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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