Text 7]
Punishment and Reward of Kali
885
TRANSLATION
You rogue, do you dare beat an innocent cow because Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, the carrier of the Gāṇḍīva bow, are out of sight? Since you are beating the innocent in a secluded place, you are considered a culprit and therefore deserve to be killed.
PURPORT
In a civilization where God is conspicuously banished and there is no devotee warrior like Arjuna, the associates of the age of Kali take advantage of this lawless kingdom and arrange to kill innocent animals like the cow in secluded slaughterhouses. Such murderers of animals stand to be condemned to death by the order of a pious king like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. For a pious king, the culprit who kills an animal in a secluded place is punishable by the death penalty, exactly like a murderer who kills an innocent child in a secluded place.
TEXT 7
त्वं वा मृणालधवलः पादैर्नृनः पदा चरन् । वृषरूपेण किं कश्चिद् देवो नः परिखेदयन् ॥ ७ ॥
tvam vā mṛnāla-dhavalaḥ pādair nyūnaḥ padā caran vṛṣa-rūpeṇa kim kaścit devo naḥ parikhedayan
tvam—yourself; vā—either; mṛnāla-dhavalaḥ—as white as a lotus; pādaiḥ—of three legs; nyūnaḥ—being deprived; padā—on one leg; caran—moving; vṛṣa—bull; rūpeṇa—in the form of; kim—whether; kaścit—someone; devaḥ—demigod; naḥ—us; parikhedayan—causing grief.
TRANSLATION
Then he [Mahārāja Parīkṣit] asked the bull: O, who are you? Are you a bull as white as a white lotus or demigod? You have lost your three legs and are only moving on one. Are you some demigod causing us grief in the form of a bull?