Shloka 71
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
धान्यान् यवांस्तिलान् माषान् कुलत्थान् सर्षपांश्वणान् । कलापानथ मुद्गांश्व गोधूमानतसींस्तथा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
dhānyān yavāṁs tilān māṣān kulatthān sarṣapāñ chvaṇān |
kalāpān atha mudgāṁś ca godhūmān atasīṁs tathā ||
মহারাজ! যে ব্যক্তি লজ্জা ত্যাগ করে অজ্ঞান ও মোহের বশে ধান, যব, তিল, উড়দ, কুলথ, সরিষা, ছোলা, মটর, মুগ, গম ও তিসি প্রভৃতি শস্য চুরি করে, সে মৃত্যুর পরে প্রথমে ইঁদুর হয়।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Stealing basic sustenance (grains and pulses) is a serious adharma; when driven by ignorance and delusion and done without moral restraint, it leads to degrading karmic consequences, here expressed as rebirth in a low form (a mouse).
In Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instruction context, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about specific acts of wrongdoing and their results; this verse lists common food-grains and states the post-mortem consequence for stealing them.