SB 1.7.37 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 37
Swapranam jah parapranaih prapushnati aghrinah khalah Tadbhdhas tasya hi shreyo jad doshat yatiadhah puman.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Swapranan—one's own life, Jah—one who, Parapranaih—at the cost of other's life, Prapushnati—maintains properly, Aghrinah—shameless, Khalah—wreched, Tabdadha—killing of him, Tasya—his, Hi—certainly, Shreyo—well being, Jad—by which, Doshat—by the fault, Yati—goes, Adhah—downwards, Puman—a person.
TRANSLATION
A cruel and wretched person who maintains his existence properly at the cost of other's life, deserves being killed; because such action is for his well being otherwise he shall go down by his own actions.
PURPORT
Life for life is just punishment for a person who cruelly and shamelessly lives at the cost of other's life. Political morality is to punish a person by life sentence in order to save a cruel person from going down to hell. A murderer is condemned to life sentence by the state is good for the culprit because he will have not to suffer for his act of murdering in his next life. Such life sentence for the murderer is the lowest possible punishment offered to him and it is said in the Smriti Shastras that men, who are punished by the King on the principle of life for life,—are purified of all their sins so much so that they may be eligible for being promoted in the planet of heaven as others do reach there by virtuous acts. According to Manu the great author of civic codes and religious principles, even the killer of an animal is to be considered as a murderer because animal food is never meant for the civilized man whose prime duty is to prepare himself for going back to Godhead. He says that in the act of killing an animal, there is regular conspiracy of the party of sinners and all of them are liable to be punished as murderer exactly like the party of conspirators who kill a human being combinedly. Such parties of combined murderers namely one who gives permission for bringing an animal, one who kills the animal, one who sells the slaughtered animal, one who cooks the animal, one who administers distribution of the food stuff and at last one who eats such cooked animal food, all are combined party of murderers and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature. Nobody can create a living being inspite of all his advancement of material science and therefore nobody has right to kill a living being by one's independant whims. For the animal eaters the scriptures have sanctioned restricted animal sacrifices only and such sanctions are there just for restricting the opening of slaughter houses and not for encouraging animal killing. The procedure under which animal sacrifice is allowed in the scriptures, is good both for the animal sacrificed and the animal eaters. It is good for the animal in the sense that the sacrificed animal is at once promoted to a human form of life after being sacrificed at the alter, and the animal eater is saved from grosser type of sins by eating meats supplied by organised slaughter house which is a ghastly place for breeding all kinds of material afflictions to the society, country and to the people in general. The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes poluted more and more by periodical war, pestilence, famine and many such unwanted calamities.