​Why would kshatriyas, especially devotees like Arjuna, hunt?

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Transcript

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So why would Kshatriyas hunt, especially for devotees like Arjuna? See, the Kshatriya code of morality is different from the Brahmana code of morality.
And Shri Prabhupada, when he started the Krishna conscious movement, he said, I have come to make Brahmanas, to find Brahmanas basically. So Kshatriyas are expected to be martial guardians of society. And the guardians means they are to guard not just from enemies, human enemies, but also from other enemies.
So that means for them, when they fight wars, at that time they are fighting against human enemies. But then for them, hunting is a part of their process of training. And it’s not that they can kill indiscriminately.
In the forest, when they are living in a particular area, when they are in exile for 12-13 years, so at that time they are in an area, after they stay in that area for sometime, Vyasadev comes over there and Vyasadev tells them that, now you should move away from this area. Because here whatever predatory animals are there, that you have hunted. So now if you stay here and hunt further, this will disturb the ecology of the place.
So then they move on to another place. So it’s not that hunting means indiscriminate hunting of any kind, just for the sake of pleasure. But it’s a part of their training process.
And that training process is also under regulation. And we can’t apply the Brahmana codes of conduct, which we are trying to apply in our movement, which the Prabhupada has given primarily for making Brahmanas, that we can’t apply to Kshatriyas. Kshatriya life is different.
And they are also having regulation. And through that discipline, through the regulation that they follow, they also become purified. But their way of functioning and our way of functioning is significantly different.
Because their duties, if you see the Bhagavad Gita itself, talks about Brahmana Kshatriya Vaishya in 18th chapter. At 18.42 it describes Brahmana’s duties. And it says, ahimsa satyamakrodhas, no, shamo dapasthapahishyam shantir arjavam eva ca, jnanam vijnanam astakyam brahma karma samavajam.
Shantir is described as one quality. Shanti can mean peacefulness. It can also mean forgiveness.
We get angry and want to take revenge, but forgive. That’s how you’ll stay peaceful. Others will stay peaceful.
On the other hand, just in the next verse, when the qualities of Kshatriyas are talked about, one of the qualities is described as, yuddhe chaapya apalayanam. That, tejakshamadupirudaksham yuddhe chaapya apalayanam. Yuddhe means in a battlefield, apalayanam, they don’t run away.
That means that when war is coming, they don’t run away from the war. At one level it means that they are not cowardly, they are heroic, they are fearless. But at another level, that means they are not forgiving.
If a war is going to come, they have to fight a war. So just two successive verses and two different virtues are talked about. Because both of them have to function in different ways.
See, forgiveness is valuable as an individual practice in relationships. But forgiveness cannot be a social principle. If somebody hurts me, I can forgive them.
But if somebody is a criminal in a court, the government cannot forgive them. The government has to punish. So Kshatriyas represent the government.
So brahmanas are working at an individual level. Brahmanas are not the rulers of society. So that’s why, the point I am making is that there are different codes of conduct for different varanas.
And Kshatriyas, as a part of their role of being martial guardians, are allowed to hunt under certain circumstances. Did I answer your question? Thank you. Yes.