Devanagari
ये त्विह वै दाम्भिका दम्भयज्ञेषु पशून् विशसन्ति तानमुष्मिँल्लोके वैशसे नरके पतितान्निरयपतयो यातयित्वा विशसन्ति ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
ye tv iha vai dāmbhikā dambha-yajṣeṣu paśūn viśasanti tān amuṣmiḻ loke vaiśase narake patitān niraya-patayo yātayitvā viśasanti.
Synonyms
ye
—
persons who
;
tu
—
but
;
iha
—
in this life
;
vai
—
indeed
;
dāmbhikāḥ
—
very proud of wealth and a prestigious position
;
dambha
—
yajṣeṣu — in a sacrifice performed to increase prestige
;
paśūn
—
animals
;
viśasanti
—
kill
;
tān
—
them
;
amuṣmin loke
—
in the next world
;
vaiśase
—
Vaiśasa or Viśasana
;
narake
—
into the hell
;
patitān
—
fallen
;
niraya
—
patayaḥ — assistants of Yamarāja
;
yātayitvā
—
causing sufficient pain
;
viśasanti
—
kill .
Translation
A person who in this life is proud of his eminent position, and who heedlessly sacrifices animals simply for material prestige, is put into the hell called Viśasana after death. There the assistants of Yamarāja kill him after giving him unlimited pain.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
A person who, in this life, proud of his eminent position, sacrifices animals simply for material prestige is put into the hell called Viśasana after death. There the assistants of Yamarāja kill him after giving him pain.
Viśasanti means “they kill.”
Purport
In
Bhagavad-gītā
(6.41)
Kṛṣṇa says,
śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate:
“Because of his previous connection with
bhakti-yoga,
a man is born into a prestigious family of
brāhmaṇas
or aristocrats.” Having taken such a birth, one should utilize it to perfect
bhakti-yoga.
However, due to bad association one often forgets that his prestigious position has been given to him by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he misuses it by performing various kinds of so-called
yajṣas
like Kālī-
pūjā
or Durgā-
pūjā,
in which poor animals are sacrificed. How such a person is punished is described herein. The word
dambha-yajṣeṣu
in this verse is significant. If one violates the Vedic instructions while performing
yajṣa
and simply makes a show of sacrifice for the purpose of killing animals, he is punishable after death. In Calcutta there are many slaughterhouses where animal flesh is sold that has supposedly been offered in sacrifice before the goddess Kālī. The
śāstras
enjoin that one can sacrifice a small goat before the goddess Kālī once a month. Nowhere is it said that one can maintain a slaughterhouse in the name of temple worship and daily kill animals unnecessarily. Those who do so receive the punishments described herein.