निश्चेष्टानां वधो राजन्कुत्सितो जगतीपतेः।
क्रतुमध्योपनीतानां पशूनामिव राघव॥
niśceṣṭānāṁ vadho rājan kutsito jagatī-pateḥ
kratu-madhyopanītānāṁ paśūnām iva rāghava
niśceṣṭānām = inert [creatures]; vadhaḥ = killing; rājan = O king; kutsitaḥ = is abominable; jagatī-pateḥ = for a kṣatriya; kratu-madhya-upanītānām = brought to a fire sacrifice [is abominable]; paśūnām = forest animals; iva = just as [killing]; rāghava = descending from Raghu.
O king descending from Raghu, killing inert [creatures] is abominable for a kṣatriya, just as [killing] forest animals brought for a fire sacrifice [is abominable].
1 Note how scrupulously Śrī Lakṣmaṇa follows Vedic dharma even in this life crisis! This is actually a lesson for us since He is a plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead which indicates that He is merely engaging in a pastime for our benefit.
2 The Uparicara Vasu episode in the Mokṣa-dharma section of the Mahābhārata has been referred to by followers of Śrī Madhva as containing evidence for sacrificing animals made out of flour instead of real animals.
Lakṣmaṇa now states that They should only cut off [the rākṣasa’s] arms and desist from killing him.
“Inert [creatures]” refer to those who are incapable of retaliating.1
The slaughter of forest animals brought for an Aśvamedha sacrifice is certainly abominable 1.
GLOSS. Killing animals brought for a sacrifice in Kali-yuga is almost always abominable because people do not know how to execute such a performance [properly] and because Mahābhārata and other [scriptures] state that one should only consider animals made out of flour to be fit for “slaughter” [during such sacrifices in Kali-yuga].2
NOTE. Since animal sacrifices sometimes involve violence, japa or mantra chanting is considered by the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā 10.25 to be a superior form of sacrifice:
yajñānāṁ japa-yajño ’smi
“Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa].”
In Prabhupāda’s purport to this verse, we find the following:
Of all sacrifices, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare is the purest representation of Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes animal sacrifices are recommended, but in the sacrifice of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, there is no question of violence. It is the simplest and the purest.