Shloka 44
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
यमस्य भवने दिव्ये ब्रहलोकसमे गुणै: । कर्मभिनियतैर्बद्धो जन्तुर्दु:खान्युपाश्चुते
yamasya bhavane divye brahmalokasame guṇaiḥ | karmabhiniyataire baddho jantur duḥkhāny upāśnute ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “In Yama’s radiant abode—divine and, by its excellences, comparable to Brahmaloka—yet a living being, bound fast by the compulsion of his own deeds, experiences sufferings.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in a splendid or divine realm, one cannot escape the binding force of one’s own karma; actions determine experience, and wrongdoing yields suffering regardless of external grandeur.
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the moral order governing the afterlife: Yama’s realm may be magnificent like Brahmaloka, but beings who arrive there bound by their deeds still undergo painful consequences.