Text 16]
Explanation of Devotional Service
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entities because vegetables also have life. Nondevotees are killing cows, goats and so many other animals for eating purposes, and a devotee who is vegetarian is also killing. But here, significantly, it is stated that every living entity has to live by killing another entity; that is the law of nature.  Jīvo jīvasya jīvanam : one living entity is the life for another living entity. But for a human being, that violence should be committed only as much as necessary.
A human being is not to eat anything which is not offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santaḥ : one becomes freed from all sinful reactions by eating foodstuffs which are offered to Yajña, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee therefore eats only  prasāda , or foodstuffs offered to the Supreme Lord, and  Kṛṣṇa  says that when a devotee offers Him foodstuffs from the vegetable kingdom, with devotion, He eats that. A devotee is to offer to  Kṛṣṇa  foodstuffs prepared from vegetables. If the Supreme Lord wanted foodstuffs prepared from animal food, the devotee could offer this, but He does not order to do that.
We have to commit violence; that is a natural law. We should not, however, commit violence extravagantly, but only as much as ordered by the Lord. Arjuna engaged in the art of killing, and although killing is, of course, violence, he killed the enemy simply on  Kṛṣṇa 's order. In the same way, if we commit violence as it is necessary, by the order of the Lord, that is called  nātihimsā . We cannot avoid violence because we are put into a conditional life in which we have to commit violence, but we should not commit more violence than necessary or than ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 16
मद्धिष्यदर्शनस्यर्षपूजास्तुत्यधिवन्दनेः । भूतेषु मद्भावनया सत्त्वेनासङ्गमेन च ॥१६॥
mad-dhiṣṇya-darśana-sparśa- pūjā-stuty-abhivandanaiḥ bhūteṣu mad-bhāvanayā sattvenāsangamena ca
mat —My;  dhiṣṇya —statue;  darśana —seeing;  sparśa —touching;  pūjā —worshiping;  stuti —praying to;  abhivandanaiḥ —by offering obeisances;  bhūteṣu —in all living entities;  mat —of Me;  bhāvanayā —with thought;  sattvena —by the mode of goodness;  asangamena —with detachment;  ca —and.