Why is it strictly forbidden to kill a wise scholar, a cow, a woman, a child, or an old person?

In the glorious days before the advent of the present age—an age of discord, quarrels, hypocrisy, indifference, and sin—wise scholars, cows, women, children, and old people were all duly protected, and the whole of society derived great benefits from this.

The protection of wise scholars ensures the maintenance of the nation's organization, the institution par excellence, since it offers the most reliable experimental method for raising all members of society, on the plane of spiritual life, to the perfection of existence.

The protection of the cow ensures an abundance of the most miraculous of all foods, milk, which refines the subtle tissues of the brain, and thus allows one to know the higher values ​​of existence.

The protection of women preserves their chastity and, consequently, the moral purity of society as a whole. In this way, men of exemplary character can be conceived, capable of maintaining society in a state of peace, harmony, tranquility, and progress.

The protection of children allows every being who has attained human form the best opportunity to embark on the path that will liberate them from the shackles of matter. The child must be protected from the moment of conception, through the performance of a purification rite, which marks the beginning of a pure existence.

The protection of the elderly gives them the opportunity to prepare for a better existence after death.

This system of protection, which encompasses the entire society, is based on the traits that distinguish a civilization of accomplished men from that of animalistic men, however refined. It is strictly forbidden to kill a wise scholar, a cow, a woman, a child, or an elderly person.

Furthermore, the slightest offense against them shortens the life of the guilty party.

In the present age, these principles are rarely observed, hence the considerable suffering endured by human beings. From the moment women, lacking protection, become corrupted, unwanted offspring are born.

Moreover, whoever offends a chaste woman will befall him in the form of a shortened life.

These are just a few examples of the Lord's uncompromising laws.