Shloka 37
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
यो हि खादति मांसानि प्राणिनां जीवितैषिणाम् । हतानां वा मृतानां वा यथा हन्ता तथैव सः:,“जो जीवित रहनेकी इच्छावाले प्राणियोंको मारकर अथवा उनके स्वयं मर जानेपर उनका मांस खाता है, वह न मारनेपर भी उन प्राणियोंका हत्यारा ही समझा जाता है
yo hi khādati māṁsāni prāṇināṁ jīvitaiṣiṇām | hatānāṁ vā mṛtānāṁ vā yathā hantā tathaiva saḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Wer das Fleisch von Lebewesen isst, die leben wollen—sei es nachdem er sie getötet hat oder selbst wenn sie von selbst starben—der ist dennoch als Mörder zu betrachten.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that moral responsibility for violence extends beyond the physical act of killing: consuming meat makes one complicit in the harm to living beings, so the eater is ethically treated as a killer.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he addresses the ethics of meat-eating, asserting that eating flesh—whether from animals one kills or animals found dead—still carries the stigma and consequence of killing.