Shloka 2
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
हत्वा भक्षयतो वापि परेणोपह्ृतस्य वा | हन्याद् वा यः परस्यार्थे क्रीत्वा वा भक्षयेन्नर:
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca:
Hatvā bhakṣayato vāpi pareṇopahṛtasya vā |
Hanyād vā yaḥ parasyārthe krītvā vā bhakṣayen naraḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “What penalty falls upon a man who kills an animal and eats its flesh, or who eats flesh that has been provided by another; or who kills an animal for the sake of another’s meal; or who buys meat and consumes it?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical accountability around meat consumption by listing multiple roles—killer, eater, recipient, one who kills for another, and buyer—implying that moral responsibility is not limited to the direct act of killing but extends to participation and enabling.
In Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-discourse setting, Yudhiṣṭhira asks a normative question about the consequences (daṇḍa) for different ways a person becomes involved with meat—through killing, accepting, commissioning, or purchasing—seeking a dharma-based judgment.