Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 24
Naraka-varṇana: The Hellish Planets and the Karmic Logic of Punishment
ये त्विह वै श्वगर्दभपतयो ब्राह्मणादयो मृगयाविहारा अतीर्थे च मृगान्निघ्नन्ति तानपि सम्परेताँल्लक्ष्यभूतान् यमपुरुषा इषुभिर्विध्यन्ति ॥ २४ ॥
ye tv iha vai śva-gardabha-patayo brāhmaṇādayo mṛgayā vihārā atīrthe ca mṛgān nighnanti tān api samparetāḻ lakṣya-bhūtān yama-puruṣā iṣubhir vidhyanti.
若高等种姓之人带着狗或驴在森林中无故猎杀动物，死后将被打入“普拉纳罗达”（Prāṇarodha）地狱。在那里，阎罗王的助手们将把他当作靶子，用箭矢以此穿透他的身体。
In the Western countries especially, aristocrats keep dogs and horses to hunt animals in the forest. Whether in the West or the East, aristocratic men in the Kali-yuga adopt the fashion of going to the forest and unnecessarily killing animals. Men of the higher classes (the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas ) should cultivate knowledge of Brahman, and they should also give the śūdras a chance to come to that platform. If instead they indulge in hunting, they are punished as described in this verse. Not only are they pierced with arrows by the agents of Yamarāja, but they are also put into the ocean of pus, urine and stool described in the previous verse.
FAQs
This verse condemns pleasure-hunting—especially outside any sanctioned sacrificial context—and states that such killers become targets of punishment by Yama’s servants after death.
It highlights moral degradation: even if one is born in a respected social order (like brāhmaṇa), indulging in cruel, base habits like recreational killing reduces one to an ignoble, animal-like standard of life.
Avoid needless violence and cruelty, cultivate compassion toward living beings, and align one’s livelihood and recreation with dharma rather than harm.