182
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 9, Ch. 6]
forest by hunting could be offered. However, in the present age, Kali-yuga, this kind of offering is forbidden. Quoting from the  Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa , Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:
aśvamedhaṁ gavālambhaṁ sannyāsaṁ pala-paitrkam devareṇa sutotpattiṁ kalau pañca vivarjayet
“In this age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of  sannyāsa , the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in his brother’s wife.” The word  pala-paitrkam  refers to an offering of flesh in oblations to forefathers. Formerly, such an offering was allowed, but in this age it is forbidden. In this age, Kali-yuga, everyone is expert in hunting animals, but most of the people are  śūdras , not  kṣatriyas . According to Vedic injunctions, however, only  kṣatriyas  are allowed to hunt, whereas  śūdras  are allowed to eat flesh after offering goats or other insignificant animals before the deity of goddess Kālī or similar demigods. On the whole, meat-eating is not completely forbidden; a particular class of men is allowed to eat meat according to various circumstances and injunctions. As far as eating beef is concerned, however, it is strictly prohibited to everyone. Thus in  Bhagavad-gītā  Kṛṣṇa personally speaks of  go-rakṣyam , cow protection. Meat-eaters, according to their different positions and the directions of the  śāstra , are allowed to eat flesh, but never the flesh of cows. Cows must be given all protection.
TEXT 8
शेषं निवेदयामास पित्रे तेन च तद्गुरुः ।
चोदितः प्रोक्षणायाह दुष्टमेतदकर्मकम् ॥ ८ ॥
śeṣaṁ nivedayām āsa pitre tena ca tad-guruḥ coditaḥ prokṣaṇāyāha duṣṭam etad akarmakam