tatheti sa vanaá¹ gatvÄ
má¹›gÄn hatvÄ kriyÄrhaṇÄn
Å›rÄnto bubhuká¹£ito vÄ«raḥ
Å›aÅ›aá¹ cÄdad apasmá¹›tiḥ
tathÄ - according to the direction; iti - thus; saḥ - Vikuká¹£i; vanam - to the forest; gatvÄ - going; má¹›gÄn - animals; hatvÄ - killing; kriyÄ-arhaṇÄn - suitable for offering to the yajña in the Å›rÄddha ceremony; Å›rÄntaḥ - when he was fatigued; bubhuká¹£itaḥ - and hungry; vÄ«raḥ - the hero; Å›aÅ›am - a rabbit; ca - also; Ädat - he ate; apasmá¹›tiḥ - forgetting (that the flesh was meant for offering in the Å›rÄddha).
It is evident that ká¹£atriyas killed animals in the forest because the flesh of the animals was suitable to be offered at a particular type of yajña. Offering oblations to the forefathers in the ceremony known as Å›rÄddha is also a kind of yajña. In this yajña, flesh obtained from the forest by hunting could be offered. However, in the present age, Kali-yuga, this kind of offering is forbidden. Quoting from the Brahma-vaivarta PurÄṇa, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu said:
aÅ›vamedhaá¹ gavÄlambhaá¹
sannyÄsaá¹ pala-paitá¹›kam
devareṇa sutotpattiá¹
kalau pañca vivarjayet
“In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyÄsa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in his brother’s wife.†The word pala-paitá¹›kam refers to an offering of flesh in oblations to forefathers. Formerly, such an offering was allowed, but in this age it is forbidden. In this age, Kali-yuga, everyone is expert in hunting animals, but most of the people are śūdras, not ká¹£atriyas. According to Vedic injunctions, however, only ká¹£atriyas are allowed to hunt, whereas śūdras are allowed to eat flesh after offering goats or other insignificant animals before the deity of goddess KÄlÄ« or similar demigods. On the whole, meat-eating is not completely forbidden; a particular class of men is allowed to eat meat according to various circumstances and injunctions. As far as eating beef is concerned, however, it is strictly prohibited to everyone. Thus in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ Kṛṣṇa personally speaks of go-raká¹£yam, cow protection. Meat-eaters, according to their different positions and the directions of the Å›Ästra, are allowed to eat flesh, but never the flesh of cows. Cows must be given all protection.