SB 1.7.37

स्वप्राणान्यः परप्राणैः प्रपुष्णात्यघृणः खलः ।
तद्वधस्तस्य हि श्रेयो यद्दोषाद्यात्यधः पुमान् ॥३७॥

sva-prāṇān yaḥ para-prāṇaiḥ
prapuṣṇāty aghṛṇaḥ khalaḥ
tad-vadhas tasya hi śreyo
yad-doṣād yāty adhaḥ pumān

svaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsva

by himself; by your own; his; his own; in his own; of one's own; of their own; one's own; own; personal, internal; personal, own; with his wealth.-prāṇānplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigprāṇān

all kinds of life air; even life; her life; life; life air; life force; life or sons and family; lives; outgoing air; the life air; the senses; their senses.—one’s own life; yaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyah

who; a devotee who; a person; a person who; all those; any person who; any such master who; anyone (king or governor); anyone; anyone who; Bali Mahārāja; because; everything; he (who has); he; he person who; He who (Govinda); he who (Jahnu); He who (Lord Nārāyaṇa); He who (Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu); he who (my so-called husband); he who (Somadatta); He who (the Lord); He who (the Personality of Godhead); He who (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); he who (Śunaḥśepha); he who; I who; it is He only; King Khaṭvāṅga who; Lord Rāmacandra who; Mahārāja Sagara who; on account of; one; one of the sons of Sagara Mahārāja; one which; one who (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); one who (Viśvāmitra); one who; one who is; person; such a person (as you); such a person; that; that is; that person; that Personality of Godhead who; that same person who; that which; the Lord who; the one; the one who; the person; the person who; the same Jaḍa Bharata who was formerly Mahārāja Bharata, the son of Mahārāja Ṛṣabhadeva; the same Rāhu; the Supreme Lord who; the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the Supreme Personality of Godhead who; the system; who; who are; who is; whoever; whom; you who; Your Lordship.—one who; paraplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigpara

and of others; get it; higher; O Supreme; of another; of others; of the transcendental Lord; other; others; outsider; previous; the conclusion at the end; the Supreme; transcendental.-prāṇaiḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigprāṇaiḥ

by life; by lives; by my life; with life.—at the cost of others’ lives; prapuṣṇātiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigprapuṣṇāti

maintains properly; supports.—maintains properly; aghṛṇaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigaghṛṇaḥ

shameless.—shameless; khalaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkhalah

because he was envious and polluted; cruel; envious; Kaṁsa, the most cruel; mischievous; the envious (almost everyone); the most crooked; the most envious rascal; wretched.—wretched; tatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigtat

establishment of the statement tat tvam asi.-vadhaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvadhaḥ

annihilation; killing; the death; the killing.—killing of him; tasyaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigtasya

and from him; Bali Mahārāja; before him (King Rantideva); by Him; by His; for Him; for that purpose; for the King; from him (Aśvamedhaja); from him (Devakṣatra); from him (Mahīnara); from him (Punarvasu); from him (Vibhu); from him; from Samaratha; he; his (Agnivarṇa's); his (Dakṣa's); his (Dhruva Mahārāja's); his (Jīmūta's son); his (Mahārāja Bharata's); his (Maitreya's); his (Nandīśvara's); his (Niṣāda's); his (of Mahārāja Parīkṣit); his (Purañjaya's); his (Purūravā's); his (Rantināva's); his (Sandhi's); his (son); His (the gigantic form's); his (the sage's); his (Vikukṣi's); his (Vyāsa's); his; his dead body; his son; in the service of Purañjaya; its; of Bali Mahārāja; of Citrasena; of Devamīḍha; of Dhruva; of Dhruva Mahārāja; of Durvāsā; of Gādhi; of He who is the Supreme Lord; of him (a student studying the Vedas); of him (Ajāmila); of him (Ambarīṣa); with him.—his; hiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bighi

addressed; all; also; and above all; and exactly; as a matter of fact; assuredly; because; because of which; certainly; certainly are; exactly; exactly like; for; for this reason; from which; in deed; in fact; indeed (You can be realized by the devotees); indeed; is certainly; only; positively; reason of; since; surely; than; though; thus; undoubtedly; without fail.—certainly; śreyaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsreyah

benediction.—well-being; yatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyat

which; about whom; all these; all those; although; and as; and whichever; anything; as; as a matter of fact; as it is; as its; as much as; as they are; because; because of; because of which; because of whom; by the result of which; by the Supreme Lord; by which; by which way; by whom (the Supreme Lord); by whom; by whose; by whose merciful; even though; everything that was required; fixed under Your direction; for; for which; from both of whom; from him; from which; from whom; from whose; from Yuyudha; he whose; his; His eternal form which; his son; if; in which; in whom; inasmuch as; Kṛṣṇa; now further; of him (Somāpi); of him; of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune; of the fire-gods; of the Lord; of the Supreme Lord; of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; of which (the intermediate space); of which; of whom (of the Supreme Lord); who; who is; whom; whose; whose form; Your.—by which; doṣātplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigdoṣāt

because of defilement; by the fault.—by the fault; yātiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyati

achieves; one in the renounced order of life; or sannyāsī.—goes; adhaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigadhah

below; beneath; down; down at the foot of Govardhana Hill; down into material existence again; downward; downward into hellish conditions; downwards; into hellish conditions of life; low; on the earth; on the floor; to a hellish condition of life; underneath.—downwards; pumānplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigpumān

a human being; a living entity; a man; a person; any person; anyone; human being; living entity; male; male person; man; one who; person; personality; Personality of Godhead; Supersoul; the Absolute Person; the enjoyer; the human being; the living being; the living entity; the Lord; the male; the male child; the male one; the man; the people in general; the person; the supreme enjoyer; the Supreme Person; the Supreme Personality; the Supreme Personality of Godhead.—a person. ¶

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. ¶

A life for a life is just punishment for a person who cruelly and shamelessly lives at the cost of another’s life. Political morality is to punish a person by a death sentence in order to save a cruel person from going to hell. That a murderer is condemned to a death sentence by the state is good for the culprit because in his next life he will not have to suffer for his act of murder. Such a death sentence for the murderer is the lowest possible punishment offered to him, and it is said in the smṛti-śāstras that men who are punished by the king on the principle of a life for a life are purified of all their sins, so much so that they may be eligible for being promoted to the planets of heaven. According to Manu, the great author of civic codes and religious principles, even the killer of an animal is to be considered 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 a regular conspiracy by the party of sinners, and all of them are liable to be punished as murderers exactly like a party of conspirators who kill a human being combinedly. He who gives permission, he who kills the animal, he who sells the slaughtered animal, he who cooks the animal, he who administers distribution of the foodstuff, and at last he who eats such cooked animal food are all murderers, and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature. No one can create a living being despite all advancement of material science, and therefore no one has the right to kill a living being by one’s independent whims. For the animal-eaters, the scriptures have sanctioned restricted animal sacrifices only, and such sanctions are there just to restrict the opening of slaughterhouses and not to encourage 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 the human form of life after being sacrificed at the altar, and the animal-eater is saved from grosser types of sins (eating meats supplied by organized slaughterhouses which are ghastly places for breeding all kinds of material afflictions to society, country and the people in general). The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted calamities. ¶