Srila Prabhupada Bhagavad-gītā 2.36–37‘That is government’s duty’
See how rascals, they are interpreting.
Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is,
without interpreting in a rascal’s way….”
“…So it is the kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means who gives protection the citizens from being hurt by the irreligious person. That is called kṣatriya. Kṣat. Kṣat means injury, and tra means deliverance. Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. When he saw that a black man, Kali, was going to kill a cow, so he was going to inflict injury to the cow, and immediately Mahārāja Parīkṣit took his sword, that to give protection to the cow from the injury of the black man.
So that is violence required. Tit for tat. One who is going to commit violence unnecessarily, the king, government, should immediately take the sword and kill that person. That is government’s duty. Had it been Vedic culture prevailing now, all these persons who are unnecessarily killing the cows in the slaughterhouse, they would have been killed by the king = “You have done so sinful.” So that kind of killing is pious. To give protection innocent citizen or animal from being injured by the rascals, the government or the king should take his sword and kill immediately.
This kind of killing is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. Not that general killing; you can capriciously kill anyone and give the evidence, “Oh, it is Bhagavad-gītā. It is there.” How… See how rascals, they are interpreting. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without interpreting in a rascal’s way….”
Bhagavad-gītā 2.36–37
London, Sept. 4, 1973
Audio for this lecture: https://prabhupadavani.org/transcriptions/730904bglon/