one living entity food for another

We get information from sastra, there is a fish which is called timihgala which swallows big, big whales, just like big fish swallows a small fish. This is struggle for existence. Jivo jivasya jivanam. Phalgūni mahatam tatra jivo jivasya jivanam [SB 1.13.47]. The natural law is that ahastani sahastanam: "The animals which has no hands"-that means four-legged animals; they have got legs, no hand-"so they are food for animals with two legs and two hands." That means human being. Human being is also animal, more powerful, more intelligent than the lower animals. So the sastra says ahastani, "The animals who hasn't got hands, they are food for the animals with two hands." Ahastani sahastanam and apadani catus-padam: "And the animals or the living entities which cannot move, apadani..." Pada means legs. Just like the trees, plants, grass, they cannot move; they have no leg. They have got leg, but they cannot move. They are eating through the legs. Therefore they are called padapa, means "collecting waters through the leg." Just these trees, they are drinking water from within the earth with their legs. Therefore they push their roots very deep to find out where is water. And if you put little water on the root of the tree, they live. They drink water. They are standing on the riverside drinking water and becoming very flourished. But although they are drinking the same water, still, they are differently constituted the different fruits, different flowers. This is God's creation, we have to understand that.    (More...)

So apadani sapadanam, apadani catus-padam. Apadani means those who cannot move-these trees, plants, grass-they are eatables for the four-legged animals, catus-padam. Catuḥ means four. Similarly, nūnam mahatam tatra. Those who are weak, they are food for the strong. That is going on. "Might is right," in the human society also. Just like you Europeans, Americans..., Europeans, they have come. You come this land of America. Because you are strong, you have eaten up all the original inhabitants. [laughs] So this is going on. This is called struggle for existence.    (More...)