Shloka 58

Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption

Devanagari script

यदि गुरु अपने पुत्रके समान शिष्यको बिना कारणके ही मारता-पीटता है तो वह अपनी स्वेच्छा-चारिताके कारण हिंसक पशुकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है ।।

Transliteration

yadi guruḥ svaputrasamaṁ śiṣyaṁ akāraṇenaiva mārati tāḍayati vā, sa svacchandacāritvāt hiṁsaka-paśu-yoniṁ prāpnoti. pitaraṁ mātaraṁ caiva yastu putro ’vamanyate, so ’pi rājan mṛto janantuḥ pūrvaṁ jāyeta gardabhaḥ.

Translation

قال يودهيشثيرا: إذا كان المعلّم يعدّ تلميذه كابنه، ثم يضربه أو يؤذيه بلا سببٍ عادل، فإنه—لأنه اتبع محض الهوى والاستبداد بالرأي—يسقط إلى ولادةِ حيوانٍ عنيف. وكذلك، أيها الملك، فإن الابن الذي يهين أباه وأمّه، بعد الموت يُبعث أولًا في صورة حمار. يضع هذا المقطع التأديب وواجب الأسرة في إطار الدارما: فالسلطة لا تُمارَس إلا بعقلٍ وضبط، وبرّ الوالدين أصلٌ أخلاقيٌّ راسخ، ومن ينقضه ينال عاقبةً مُهينة.

Word by Word

• {'yadi': 'if', 'guruḥ': 'teacher

• spiritual preceptor', 'sva-putra-samaṁ': 'like one’s own son', 'śiṣyam': 'disciple

• student', 'akāraṇena': 'without cause

• without justification', 'mārati': 'beats

• strikes', 'tāḍayati': 'hits

• chastises', 'svacchanda-cāritvāt': 'due to acting by one’s own whim

• arbitrary conduct', 'hiṁsaka': 'violent

• harmful', 'paśu-yoni': 'animal womb/birth

• animal state of existence', 'prāpnoti': 'attains

• falls into', 'pitaraṁ': 'father (accusative)', 'mātaram': 'mother (accusative)', 'caiva': 'and indeed', 'yastu': 'whoever', 'putraḥ': 'son', 'avamanyate': 'disrespects

• treats with contempt', 'rājan': 'O king', 'mṛtaḥ': 'dead

• having died', 'jantuḥ': 'living being

• creature', 'pūrvam': 'first

• initially', 'jāyeta': 'is born

• is reborn', 'gardabhaḥ': 'donkey'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• rājan (the king addressed)
• guru (teacher)
• śiṣya (disciple)
• pitṛ (father)
• mātṛ (mother)
• putra (son)
• gardabha (donkey)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Authority must be exercised according to dharma: a teacher should not punish a disciple arbitrarily, and a son must honor father and mother. Unjust violence and filial contempt are portrayed as grave ethical failures that lead to degrading rebirths.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and cites moral consequences: an unjustly violent teacher falls into an animal birth, and a son who dishonors his parents is reborn first as a donkey. The statement functions as a didactic warning within Anuśāsana Parva’s ethical instruction.