ye tv iha vai dÄmbhikÄ dambha-yajñeá¹£u paśūn viÅ›asanti tÄn amuá¹£min loke vaiÅ›ase narake patitÄn niraya-patayo yÄtayitvÄ viÅ›asanti
ye - persons who; tu - but; iha - in this life; vai - indeed; dÄmbhikÄḥ - very proud of wealth and a prestigious position; dambha-yajñeá¹£u - in a sacrifice performed to increase prestige; paśūn - animals; viÅ›asanti - kill; tÄn - them; amuá¹£min loke - in the next world; vaiÅ›ase - VaiÅ›asa or ViÅ›asana; narake - into the hell; patitÄn - fallen; niraya-patayaḥ - assistants of YamarÄja; yÄtayitvÄ - causing sufficient pain; viÅ›asanti - kill.
In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (6.41) Kṛṣṇa says, Å›ucÄ«nÄá¹ Å›rÄ«matÄá¹ gehe yoga-bhraá¹£á¹o ’bhijÄyate: “Because of his previous connection with bhakti-yoga, a man is born into a prestigious family of brÄhmaṇas 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 yajñas like KÄlÄ«-pÅ«jÄ or DurgÄ-pÅ«jÄ, in which poor animals are sacrificed. How such a person is punished is described herein. The word dambha-yajñeá¹£u in this verse is significant. If one violates the Vedic instructions while performing yajña 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 KÄlÄ«. The Å›Ästras enjoin that one can sacrifice a small goat before the goddess KÄlÄ« 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.