Study a Verse

• According to the Vedic śāstras, everything must be done according to regulative principles, but here it is stated that the thieves and rogues devised their own process for killing an animalistic man.
• The tamasic śāstras give instructions for the sacrifice of an animal like a goat or buffalo before the goddess Kālī, but there is no mention of killing a man, however dull he may be.
• The sacrifice of a goat or a similar animal before the goddess Kālī is mentioned in śāstras just to keep people from eating slaughterhouse meat and becoming responsible for the killing of animals.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Compassion and attachment → Regret and vigilance. Affection becomes binding when it displaces devotion.

Chapters 7–9 of Canto 5: Bharata, the deer and the birth of Jaḍa Bharata. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 9: The Supreme Character of Jaḍa Bharata

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

When the dacoits brought Bharata Mahārāja before the goddess Kālī and raised a chopper to kill him, the goddess Kālī became immediately alarmed due to the mistreatment of a devotee. She came out of the deity and, taking the chopper in her own hands, killed all the dacoits there.