Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 78
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
सूकर: पज्च वर्षाणि दश वर्षाणि श्वाविध: । बिडाल: पज्च वर्षाणि दश वर्षाणि कुक्कुट:
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | sūkaraḥ pañca varṣāṇi daśa varṣāṇi śvāvidhaḥ | biḍālaḥ pañca varṣāṇi daśa varṣāṇi kukkuṭaḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “(A being) remains as a boar for five years, as a śvāvidha for ten years, as a cat for five years, and as a cock for ten years.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse supports the Anuśāsana Parva’s ethical instruction by illustrating saṃsāra: actions can propel a being through successive non-human births for fixed spans, underscoring the gravity of adharma and the need for righteous conduct to avoid degrading rebirths.
Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking within a didactic exchange on dharma and karmic results, listing a sequence of animal embodiments and their durations as part of a broader description of how a soul may wander through various wombs due to past deeds.