Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, also commonly refered to as Buddha ‘The Awakened One’. The Dhammapada is a collection of verses as uttered by Gautama Buddha himself to his disciples. This verse talks about punishment.
Passage
All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death;
remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
All men tremble at punishment, all men love life;
remember that thou art like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
He who seeking his own happiness punishes or kills beings
who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.
He who seeking his own happiness does not punish or kill beings
who also long for happiness, will find happiness after death.
Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way.
Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will touch thee.
If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou utter not,
then thou hast reached Nirvana; contention is not known to thee.
Max Muller. The Dhammapada: A Collection of Verses. Oxford, the Clarendon Press,1898.
