Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 1.7.37
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyRespect Life and Its Spiritual Purpose
“A cruel and wretched person who maintains his existence at the cost of others’ lives deserves to be killed for his own well-being, otherwise he will go down by his own actions.”
What the purport teaches
- The purport describes punishment by the state as a means of saving a murderer from suffering for that act in the next life.
- Responsibility for animal-killing extends to those who permit, carry out, sell, cook, distribute or eat the animal. Scriptural restrictions on animal sacrifice are meant to limit killing, not encourage it.
- No one can create a living being, so no one has the right to kill by independent whim. Human life's prime duty is to prepare to go back to Godhead.
Try this today
Choose a meal today that does not depend on animal slaughter.
Ask yourself
How can remembering life's spiritual purpose make me more careful about harming other living beings?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.