Shloka 28
मांसपरिवर्जन-प्रशंसा (Praise of Abstention from Meat) / Ethics of Ahiṃsā in Diet and Rite
भोजयित्वा दशशतं नरो वेदविदां नृप । न्यायविद्धर्मविदुषामितिहासविदां तथा
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | bhojayitvā daśaśataṁ naro vedavidāṁ nṛpa | nyāyavid dharmaviduṣām itihāsavidāṁ tathā |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O king, a man who feeds a thousand brāhmaṇas—learned in the Veda, skilled in nyāya (reasoning and justice), versed in dharma, and knowledgeable in the sacred histories and tradition—does not fall into dreadful hell, nor is he bound again to the cycle of worldly wandering. In this very life his aims are fulfilled, and after death he enjoys happiness in the next world.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the exceptional merit of anna-dāna (feeding others), especially when offered to learned and ethically grounded recipients. Such generosity is presented as a dharmic act that yields both worldly fulfillment and favorable post-mortem destiny, protecting one from hellish consequences and continued entanglement in saṁsāra.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and states a dharma-teaching: feeding a thousand Brahmins who are learned in Veda, nyāya, dharma, and itihāsa brings powerful spiritual and ethical results—success in this life and happiness after death.