What does hinduism say about killing insects?

Question

What does hinduism say about killing insects?Is it ok or not?

Answer 1

Hinduism says that it is impossible to avoid killing insects.

Tuladhara said, ‘People regard the profession of agriculture to be sinless. That profession, however, is certainly frought with cruelty. The iron-faced plough wounds the soil and many creatures that live in the soil.’

Mahabharata Santi Parva Section CCLXII

The best one can do is to minimize violence.

Tuladhara said, ‘O Jajali, I know morality, which is eternal, with all its mysteries. It is nothing else than that ancient morality which is known to all, and which consists of universal friendliness, and is fraught with beneficence to all creatures. That mode of living which is founded upon a total harmlessness towards all creatures or (in case of actual necessity) upon a minimum of such harm, is the highest morality.’

(Mahabharata Santi Parva Section CCLXII)

Answer 2

This is what Lord Krishna says in Uddhava Gita

A saintly person should step or place his foot on the ground only after verifying with his eyes that there are no living creatures, such as insects, who might be injured by his foot. He should drink water only after filtering it through a portion of his cloth, and he should speak only words that possess the purity of truth. Similarly, he should perform only those activities his mind has carefully ascertained to be pure.(SB 11.18.16)