Shloka 80
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
तत्र जीवति मासांस्तु कृमियोनौ चतुर्दश । ततो<वधर्मक्षयं कृत्वा पुनर्जायति मानव:,उस कीट-योनिमें वह चौदह महीनोंतक जीवन धारण करता है। तदनन्तर पापक्षय करके वह पुनः मनुष्य-योनिमें जन्म लेता है
tatra jīvati māsāṁs tu kṛmiyonau caturdaśa | tato 'vadharmakṣayaṁ kṛtvā punar jāyati mānavaḥ ||
There, in the womb of a worm, he lives for fourteen months. Thereafter, having exhausted the residue of his sinful conduct, the human being is born again in the human state.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches karmic moral causality: sinful conduct (adharma) can lead to painful lower births, and after the demerit is exhausted through that experience, the being may regain human birth.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes a post-mortem consequence: a person takes birth in a worm-species, remains there for fourteen months, and then—after the depletion of sin—returns to human birth.