220 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 24

vyadha tumi, jiva mara—‘alpa’ aparadha tomara
kadarthana diyd mara’——e papa ‘apara’

SYNONYMS

vyadha tumi—you are a hunter; jiva maéra—your occupation is to kill animals;
alpa—slight; aparadha—offense; tomara—your; kadarthana diya—unnecessarily
giving them pain; mdara’—when you kill; e papa apadra—this sinful activity is
unlimited.

TRANSLATION

“Narada Muni continued, ‘My dear hunter, your business is killing animals.
That is a slight offense on your part, but when you consciously give them un-
necessary pain by leaving them half-dead, you incur very great sins.’

PURPORT

This is another good instruction to animal killers. There are always animal killers
and animal eaters in human society because less civilized people are accustomed
to eating meat. In Vedic civilization, meat-eaters are advised to kill an animal for
the goddess Kali or a similar demigod. This is in order not to give the animal un-
necessary pain, as slaughterhouses do. In the balidana sacrifice to a demigod, it is
recommended to cut the throat of an animal with one slice. This should be done
on a dark-moon night, and the painful noises expressed by the animal at the time
of being slaughtered are not to be heard by anyone. There are also many other
restrictions. Slaughter is only allowed once a month, and the killer of the animal
has to suffer similar pains in his next life. At the present moment, so-called
civilized men do not sacrifice animals to a deity in a religious or ritualistic way.
They openly kill animals daily by the thousands for no purpose other than the
satisfaction of the tongue. Because of this the entire world is suffering in so many
ways. Politicians are unnecessarily declaring war, and, according to the stringent
laws of material nature, massacres are taking place between nations.

prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah

ahankdra-vimddhatma
kartaham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material
nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out
by nature.” (Bg. 3.27) The laws of prakrti (nature) are very stringent. No one
should think that he has the freedom to kill animals and not suffer the conse-
quences. One cannot be safe by doing this. Narada Muni herein says that animal
