Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 4.11.10

nayam margo hi sadhunam

hrishikesanuvartinam

yad atmanam parag grihya

pasuvad bhuta-vaisasam

SYNONYMS

na -- never; ayam -- this; margah -- path; hi -- certainly; sadhunam -- of honest persons; hrishikesa -- of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; anuvartinam -- following the path; yat -- which; atmanam -- self; parak -- the body; grihya -- thinking to be; pasu-vat -- like animals; bhuta -- of living entities; vaisasam -- killing.

TRANSLATION

One should not accept the body as the self and thus, like the animals, kill the bodies of others. This is especially forbidden by saintly persons, who follow the path of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

The words sadhunam hrishikesanuvartinam are very significant. Sadhu means "a saintly person." But who is a saintly person? A saintly person is he who follows the path of rendering service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hrishikesa. In the Narada-pancaratra it is said, hrishikena hrishikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate: [Cc. Madhya 19.170] the process of rendering favorable service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead with one's senses is called bhakti, or devotional service. Therefore, why should a person who is already engaged in the service of the Lord engage himself in personal sense gratification? Dhruva Maharaja is advised here by Lord Manu that he is a pure servitor of the Lord. Why should he unnecessarily engage, like the animals, in the bodily concept of life? An animal thinks that the body of another animal is his food; therefore, in the bodily concept of life, one animal attacks another. A human being, especially one who is a devotee of the Lord, should not act like this. A sadhu, a saintly devotee, is not supposed to kill animals unnecessarily.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness